Life in Early Retirement Archives - Page 2 of 7

The 7 Reasons I Love Living in Panama as an Expat

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 scale back a little bit. It was time for us (mostly Lisa) to start Faith’s homeschooling. That had its ups and downs but seems to be working pretty well as of late. But it also has meant an earlier bedtime

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

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 how they live. But imagine not knowing, moving in, and then jumping into the shower for the first time. SURPRISE!!! YIKES! But if you know what to look for, you can find some real gems. Although costs aren’t as cheap

We’re Now Living in Panama… Finally!!

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 move to Panama more than anything. That’s not a bad thing at all – it was just a little unexpected. We were doing this just because it seemed interesting to us. It was initially “just” a plan to utilize geoarbitrage

Striving to Let Go and Be a Better Person

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 let go So let’s start on the side of letting things go… I’m a planner and a worker and always have been. Organization is my middle name. When a trip or event is being scheduled with friends or family, I’ve

Flexible Travel Can Yield Huge Benefits

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 that the destinations are generally less crowded and that makes things even better. Mix in a little more hassle-free travel along the way like smaller lines through security screenings and life becomes a real winner! Vacations step up their game

Did These Flip-Flops Lead Us to Financial Freedom?

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 also tell you that these flip-flops could really be a symbol representing part of what made it possible. Being able to save more money means you’re either making more money or you’re spending less of it. In our case, one