With the Panama adventure around the corner, one of the big tasks on the list has been homeschooling research. Until we decide we want to pursue residency in Panama, we’ll need to leave the country periodically to comply with tourism laws. Because of that, it makes more sense for us to homeschool our daughter for at least that first year. The good news for me is that Mrs. R2R has taken on the challenge over the past several months of […]
Ever heard of Google Voice? If not, know that this could be one of the best ways of staying in touch with family and friends while you’re living abroad. One of the small concerns we had was how to keep communication simple with everyone while we’re living in Panama. When we get there, we’re going to get Panamanian cell service for our phones. The problem is that gives us a Panamanian phone number. So if we call anyone in the
Using Google Voice to Stay in Touch While Living Abroad Read More »
Minutiae. It’s such a funny word. It makes me chuckle just saying it, so I thought it would be perfect for what I want to talk about today. We’re learning pretty quickly that when you want to move to another country, you can’t just pick up and leave. There’s a lot of minutiae that will need to be ironed out in the planning. See, wasn’t that was fun to read that word again? Minutiae. Anyway, I thought I’d take some
Yup, you read that right… I did a FIRE presentation regarding geoarbitrage and our plans to move to Panama. Deanna (aka Ms. Fiology) asked me to do a talk for the ChooseFI local group in Northeast Ohio. I’m a reasonably outgoing guy, but public speaking is a whole different ball game. I had never done a presentation like this before, but I decided why not push my comfort level and give it a shot? So I agreed. Although my stipulation was
Expat health insurance – the one piece of retirement unique to those living in another country. One of the biggest struggles for folks wanting to pull the trigger on early retirement in the U.S. tends to revolve around healthcare. Unfortunately, I can’t help you with that one except to say to plan for the worse. You have to build the unknown into your FIRE number because it can be the one wildcard that can throw off anyone’s plans. That sucks,
Early retirement planning. You’d think the closer we get to our FIRE date, the simpler things would become. I mean really – I’m leaving my job in just a few months so as I continue to train my replacement, my workload should start to diminish over time. Plus, we’re downsizing to an apartment soon (if we could ever sell our house!). What else could there be, Jim? How much early retirement planning do you really need? Didn’t you already get these
Strategies We’re Using in Our Early Retirement Planning Read More »
With our recent announcement of us moving up our early retirement date to the end of 2018, the pressure’s now on. We’re now planning to retire abroad to Panama in the summer of 2019. The news was exciting for us to share, but now reality’s setting in. Although a year seems like a lot of time, there’s really a lot that needs to be done. It would be one thing if we were just moving to another country for a
So things just got interesting here in the R2R household. We’ve decided to move our early retirement date up to be 12/31/18. Yeah, that’s right – just over six months from now. Crazy, right? Then to top it off, we decided to push up our move to Panama as well. We’ll now be starting that adventure about a year from now in the summer of 2019. Making the decision to move up our early retirement date isn’t a decision we’re taking
Shit Just Got Real… Moving Early Retirement Up to 2018! Read More »
As soon as you mention the idea of homeschooling, people get uncomfortable. Some shut down, go silent, and give you a stare that quietly says, “I’ll keep listening, but you’re now officially crazy in my book.” Others quickly object. They might say, “That’ll cause all kinds of social problems for your kid!” or maybe “That’ll be too much work!” or some other wonderful expression of disapproval. Personally, I don’t have the same feelings. Although it’s still not really mainstream, a lot of folks
Homeschooling… a Great Start to Awkward Conversation Read More »
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
The #1 Question We’re Asked About Moving to Panama… Read More »
