Life in Early Retirement

One of the Absolute Best Facets of Early Retirement

19 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Motivation / By / November 3, 2019

A lot of you have been following FIRE (financial independence, retire early) blogs as you continue down your own path toward financial freedom.  And the numbers to reach FI (financial independence) are important, but what about the early retirement side of things? Some of you will continue to work and just want FI to ensure a secure retirement.  If you love what you do, that’s the best scenario you can have.  Congratulations! But others of you want to get out …

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10 Reasons Not to Live in Panama

10 Reasons Not to Live in Panama

37 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Panama / By / October 25, 2019

Life’s not all a bed of roses here in Boquete.  I thought today that I’d share some reasons not to live in Panama. So far, living here has been a wonderful experience for me and my family.  It definitely was an adjustment (and still is occasionally), but just being a part of a life that’s so different than we’re accustomed to is both interesting and amazing. A couple of weeks ago, I talked about The 7 Reasons I Love Living in …

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The 7 Reasons I Love Living in Panama as an Expat

The 7 Reasons I Love Living in Panama as an Expat

17 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Panama / By / October 22, 2019

I’ve been living in Panama as an expat for a little over a month and a half now.  And what a truly awesome experience it’s been so far for me and my family. The first couple of weeks were like a vacation.  Most of our time was consumed with exploring and having fun.  We spent our days eating out, shopping (ok, mostly just browsing!), and doing fun activities like whale watching. Starting at the beginning of September, we began to …

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Boquete, Panama Places to Live… We Found a Rental!

28 Comments / Geoarbitrage, Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Real Estate / By / September 24, 2019

Looking at places to live in Panama is kind of an adventure.  There are a lot of nuances you need to be aware of or you could end up very unhappy. For instance, if you don’t know to ask, you could get a place that has what they lovingly refer to as “suicide showers” here.  And by that, they mean that it doesn’t have hot water! A lot of the local Panamanians here are used to that and that’s just …

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We're Now Living in Panama... Finally!!

We’re Now Living in Panama… Finally!!

44 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Travel and Vacation / By / September 24, 2019

It feels like we’ve been planning this for years (because we have!), but it’s finally happened… we’re now living in Panama! I wasn’t going to post about this yet since we’ve been here less than a week, but I figured a lot of you want to know the details about this adventure. Although I started this site in 2015 intending to focus mostly on personal finance, I feel like I’ve become known more for our plans to retire early and …

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Striving to Let Go and Be a Better Person

Striving to Let Go and Be a Better Person

14 Comments / General Thoughts, Life in Early Retirement, Motivation / By / September 24, 2019

Well, tomorrow is the big day… we’re finally flying out and moving to Panama!  And with that, I thought it would be a good opportunity to talk about change and my plans to be a better person. That’s right – who woulda thunk I could be any more of a better person than I already am?!  Well, guess what – even people like little old me have a little breathing room to improve on in our lives!   Striving to …

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Flexible Travel Can Yield Huge Benefits

Flexible Travel Can Yield Huge Benefits

16 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Spending, Travel and Vacation / By / September 26, 2019

One of the facets of early retirement I was looking forward to the most was flexible travel.  I knew that we’d be able to save some money by not having to be so rigid in our plans. I didn’t realize the extent of how beneficial it could be though.  We’ve been retired for less than eight months now and what we’re already experiencing is awesome! Between cheaper flights, hotels, and cruises, the price is definitely right. Then you throw in …

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Did These Flip-Flops Lead Us to Financial Freedom?

Did These Flip-Flops Lead Us to Financial Freedom?

18 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Saving, Spending / By / September 24, 2019

People hear that my flip-flops are now over 12 years old and love to say, “No wonder you were able to retire!”  But are my old shoes the reason we were able to reach financial freedom? You might decisively be thinking that’s silly, but let’s talk about this a little more before you jump to a conclusion. I think we all know that my shoes aren’t going to be the reason we were able to retire early. But, I can …

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Retirement Problems: My 2 Biggest Fears Since Retiring

14 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts, Life in Early Retirement, Spending / By / September 24, 2019

Having retirement problems when you’re early retired can sometimes sound petty.  It’s like winning the lottery and then complaining about the amount you have to pay in taxes. So, don’t get me wrong – I’m having the time of my life since I left my job in 2018.  Gaining freedom and more time are two facets of life that only a small percentage of people can fully realize and I’m loving every minute of it. We’ve been enjoying time together …

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Striving to Be (Somewhat) Lazy in Early Retirement

Striving to Be (Somewhat) Lazy in Early Retirement

18 Comments / Life in Early Retirement / By / September 24, 2019

“Lazy” is a word I sometimes struggle with.  I like to be doing something productive or I feel guilty. That productivity might have been something most of us are familiar with like mowing the lawn or staining the deck.  It also might be something smaller like organizing and sharing photos with friends and family on Google Photos.* Regardless of what it is, I have a hard time sitting still and doing nothing.  I can’t seem to just say, “You know …

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