Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE)

Why the Rich Get Richer

Why the Rich Get Richer

Have you ever heard the saying “the rich get richer”? It’s the go-to cry of the American working man and woman against the inequality that seems to arise when more fortune seems to fall on the wealthy. I started thinking about that saying recently and you know what?  I think it’s true. It’s not that hard to see that the middle class is slowly being squeezed out.  Wages for middle-class Americans have been relatively stagnant while prices continue to rise. […]

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Guest Appearance on the Chain of Wealth Podcast

I had an opportunity to appear on the Chain of Wealth podcast recently and it’s now live! If you’re not familiar with Chain of Wealth, they started the site in 2017.  Who’s “they” you ask? Denis and Katie, of course! They created the blog to walk through the story of Katie paying off her debt.  Their podcasts focus on interviewing folks that can help inspire others. I was excited to be a part of their show! In this podcast, of

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The Three-Year Blog Post... Finance Lessons Learned

The Three-Year Blog Post… Finance Lessons Learned

3 years.  That’s what this blog post marks… three years of blogging on Route to Retire. For new bloggers, this might sound like a long time.  However, I look at some of the others out there who have been doing this for over a decade – like J.D. Roth at Get Rich Slowly or J. Money at Budgets Are Sexy.  It’s then that I realize I’m still somewhat of a rookie in the blogosphere. I’ve consistently posted a minimum of once a

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Buying an Investment Property? Here's Why I Sold Mine

Buying an Investment Property? Here’s Why I Sold Mine

Buying an investment property might be one of the smartest things you can do… if you do it right. Most of my money is in the stock market because of the ease of investing in it, the company match offered, and other incentives.  However, I don’t fully trust it. The biggest reason why is that you don’t really have control over what happens.  Sure, you can choose your specific investments, but it’s not up to you to determine if that

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Um, I Was Told to Stop Talking to My Kid About Money…

Everyone has opinions on how kids should be raised.  And there really are no perfect answers.  However, I never thought there’d be a day when my own parents would tell me to stop talking to my kid about money. But that’s exactly what happened. If you’re not familiar with my daughter, she’s a stellar writer on the Route to Retire blog.  Her post Like Father, Like Daughter… got some pretty good attention – including making it onto Rockstar Finance. She’s seven and

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Why Spider-Man's Path is Like the Journey to FIRE

Why Spider-Man’s Path is Like the Journey to FIRE

Thought we’d try something a little different in this post for those of you interested in the journey to FIRE (Financial Independence / Retire Early). It’s time for a little analogy on how a hero’s journey is similar to the path to FIRE! You might notice that in a good number of the hero stories and movies out there a pattern seems to take place.  Well, that’s because there’s actually a twelve-step plan they like to follow. Don’t believe me? 

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Adjusting My Asset Allocation... Tastes Great, Less Filling

Adjusting My Asset Allocation… Tastes Great, Less Filling

This might be sacrilegious to say in a personal finance blog, but I’ve never really paid that much attention to my asset allocation. Yeah, yeah, quit your mumblings about what a terrible personal finance blogger I am. What it really comes down to is that I just kept saving and investing.  It was as if I just kept shoveling dirt into a pile and never looked up. Then one day I looked at the pile and went, “Huh?  Oh, hey,

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Guest Appearance on the Retire Hoppy Podcast

A podcast with a beer theme?!  That’s music to my ears and exactly what the guys at Retire Hoppy are aiming for! If you’re not familiar with the Retire Hoppy site, that’s because it’s a little newer.  It’s run by Ted Carr and Roy Weinberg and is a spinoff of the Retirement Journeys blog and podcast. This was a really fun podcast to be on.  You can’t get anymore laid back than these guys. Ted and Roy are both retired

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How FIOR Can Save You From the FIRE

In 2017, Lisa at Mad Money Monster coined the term FIOR in her blog post, F.I.O.R. – Financial Independence Optional Retirement.  And you know what… she nailed it. The premise of her post was that a lot of folks become excited about what the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) community stands for and they head down a similar path. However, not everyone needs to jump ship and retire early. Lisa and her husband, for example, are on the road to financial

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The #1 Question We’re Asked About Moving to Panama…

My loyal readers know that we’re planning on moving to Panama in 2020. We’re quitting our jobs at the end of 2019.  We’ll then let our daughter finish out her school year (fourth grade).  And then, yeah, we’re moving to Panama. Sounds crazy, right?  You can say it – you won’t hurt my feelings. What’s funny is that most of our friends don’t have the heart to tell us what they’re really thinking.  We know what they’re really thinking is

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