In just a few days, our time of living in Panama for over 2 ½ years will be coming to an end. It’s bittersweet in so many ways, but today I thought it would be fun to look back at so many of the fun activities we did during our time here. Whether it was sleeping in a lodge in the jungle, spending time at nearby beaches, or just walking around the town of Boquete and admiring the beauty around […]
41 Fun Activities We Did in Panama Read More »
I’ve been regularly putting my entire life out there publicly on this blog since 2015. So when someone is surprised to find out we’re moving back to the U.S. from Panama, I’m sometimes confused for a second… doesn’t everyone follow our journey on this site every week? Of course not! Though you should be! 😉 When friends ask us about why we’re moving back, I usually fill them in. And when blog-reading friends ask us why we’re moving back, I
The 2 Big Reasons We’re Moving Back From Panama… and What’s Next! Read More »
It seems that more and more folks in the FIRE (financial independence / retire early) community are jumping on the bandwagon of bashing the idea of early retirement… because early retirement now somehow conveys a negative connotation. I even heard some of my favorite hosts talking about this recently on a very popular podcast. The message was basically that early retirement is bad and if you don’t like your job, early retirement isn’t the answer – find a job you
Why Early Retirement Isn’t Just About Escaping a Sh*tty Job Read More »
I was trying to decide what to write for this week’s post. Then I ran across my friend Fritz’s recent post, The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2021. That seemed like the perfect way to end the year… so I stole his idea! Ok, I didn’t really steal it. I reached out to Fritz to see if he’d be ok with me writing a post of my own like his… and he was just fine with the idea. See? We
The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2021… That Aren’t Fritz’s Read More »
I recently wrote a post called Teaching Kids About Money – Valuable Lessons Instilled. As I was in the process of writing it, I got motivated to open a custodial Roth IRA for my daughter, Faith. If you’re new to this blog, Faith is 10 years old (11 in a few months). When you hear that, you might be thinking, “What the @#$% does a 10-year-old need with a retirement account?” or “Um, Jim, don’t you need to have earned
How and Why To Open a Custodial Roth IRA at Vanguard Read More »
Relying on schools to educate your kids about personal finance is generally not going to be a smart move… most schools don’t even have a curriculum to teach them the basics. When it comes to teaching kids about money, the onus falls on you. That’s good news because you have an opportunity to ensure that your children are learning the right information. Just as many parents haven’t been educated about personal finance, many teachers themselves haven’t been either. If you
Teaching Kids About Money – Valuable Lessons Instilled Read More »
Once upon a time, a pretty awesome family was living in Boquete, Panama. They were getting ready to start their second Christmas story in this beautiful country. And then the Ministry of Health announced another scheduled lockdown over the next two holiday weeks. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. That pretty awesome family struggled with the mandate, let it spoil their holiday spirit, and became total Grinches for the rest of the year. The End. Oh, and
A Christmas Story in Panama… Back in Lockdown! Read More »
Life is funny sometimes. We made plans for the future, retired early, sold everything we had, and then moved to Boquete, Panama in 2019. What are the chances a once-in-century pandemic hits shortly thereafter and throws everything out of whack? The odds can’t be very high I would guess. I’ll tell you what – it’s been one helluva ride so far. The first six months were pretty awesome. We got settled in, had the opportunity to be on House Hunters
Making Plans for the Future – Stay or Go? Read More »
I had a little bit of a strange realization the other day. We tell our kids, friends, and other family members that we support their dreams. We tell them to reach for the stars and they can be or do anything they want to in life. But guess what – those are just some empty words. Even though we say to reach for the stars, those words can be meaningless due to our actions. We push our kids to chase
To Truly Reach for the Stars, Challenge Herd Mentality Read More »
After a year of teaching Faith ourselves (mostly Lisa), she was nice enough to give us a homeschooling review. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Lisa and I were both blessed enough to retire from our jobs. I left my job at the end of 2018 after 20 years in IT. Then in 2019, we sold everything and moved to Panama with just two suitcases each. We decided not to get residency here yet until we’ve had a chance
My Homeschooling Review After One Interesting Year Read More »
