Route to Retire ...the path to financial independence

Total Wireless… Same Verizon Network, Less $$$

I debated quite a bit about writing this post. What makes a post on Total Wireless as a cell phone provider any better than the cable-cutting posts that you see all over the place? The last thing I want to do to you as my readers is provide a disservice by focusing too much on the small side of savings. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is something that you need to be familiar with. And the reason why is because this small change can save you a ton of dough without a difference in service. Interested? You should be. I switched over a year ago and I’m just speaking from experience. I

Homeschooling… a Great Start to Awkward Conversation

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 are starting to realize that homeschooling does have its place. We’re not homeschooling our daughter… yet. However, if I was FIRE (financially independent / retire early) when my daughter was younger, I would have loved to go down the homeschooling

Guest Appearance on the Countdown to FI Podcast

Man, I’ve been on a roll with these podcasts! My latest appearance was on the Countdown to FI podcast and it was truly a lot of fun! Mr. and Mrs. CTF are some great peeps to talk to and talk we did! We stuffed a lot into this show with a lot of discussion that hasn’t been brought up in previous podcasts. Some of the conversation revolved around our countdown to early retirement and what our plans are. We discussed the bucket system along with a couple of the ways that we’re planning to pull money out of our retirement accounts early. If you’re not familiar with the Roth IRA Conversion Ladder or Rule 72(t), we got into those a

Why Do I Suck So Much at Giving to Charity?

I’ve realized over the past year or so that I really suck at giving to charity. Sure, I do a nice job of donating clothes to Goodwill throughout the year. However, Goodwill tends to have a bad rap when it comes to pay and where donated clothes actually go. Because of the question marks we tend to have on the organization, we’ve shifted more toward donating clothes to Volunteers of America most of the time. I also consistently donate a ton of books to the library, but they’re generally books I bought from the library in the first place. I buy books from the library books sales for my daughter… a lot of books! Then after we read them so

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. On the flip side, the wealth of the top 1% continues to grow to tremendously disproportionate levels. But why is that – is there a reason that the rich get richer? The more I thought about it, the more I

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 course, we got to talk about our plans for Panama. But we also had a good discussion about the role of kids on the path to FIRE. There’s an impression that seems to linger in our society that kids make