I started writing this post just one day before we started traveling to Ohio from Panama. By the time you read this, we’ll be in the dead of winter in Northeast Ohio. We’ve left the 75°F daily temps of Boquete to head toward the Akron/Cleveland area where the high has been hovering in the teens lately. It’s snowing off and on as well, but that’s par for the course in February in Ohio. We might be the worst snowbirds ever …
That’s right, folks – after owning rental properties since 2003, I’m now completely out of the game! In 2018, I sold the house I had bought as an investment property in 2003. And just a couple of weeks ago, we closed on selling the duplex we had purchased in 2015. Here’s the weird part – if you’ve been following my blog over the years, you know that I’m a strong advocate of owning real estate rentals. Each property can provide …
Owning Rental Properties Is Smart, but I’m Out, Jack! Read More »
I’m excited to announce that Lisa and I recently made the decision not to move back home to the U.S. just yet. We’ve been taking this year by year since we moved here to Boquete, Panama in the summer of 2019. Over the past couple of months though, it looked like our time here was going to be ending in the fall. But I’m happy to tell you that we finally came up with a new plan. We’ll have the …
We Decided Not To Move Back Home to the U.S. Yet! Read More »
Topless photos on a blog that tends to focus on Panama, personal finance, and life in early retirement?! Jim, what the @#$% are you thinking? You should be ashamed of yourself! I know, I know… but it needs to be done. You can close your eyes if you want, but it’s not going to stop it from it happening! It’s that time of the year when many folks have made a decision, a resolution if you will, to get in …
The term “perpetual tourist” was one I wasn’t familiar with until we got serious about the idea of moving to Panama several years ago. Sometimes you might also hear it by the name “perpetual traveler”, “permanent tourist”, “prior taxpayer”, or even just by the letters “PT.” A perpetual tourist is someone who isn’t a legal resident of the country they are living in. Be aware that this is completely different than an illegal immigrant. PTs still play by the tourism …
Back in January 2020, I had an opportunity to be interviewed by the wonderful Risa Morimoto from Modern Aging. She wanted to get my take on our time here in Panama. What do we like and dislike? Why would someone want to retire in Panama? I met Risa during the shooting of our House Hunters International episode. She was the director and she’s just a great person all around. Risa’s got the personality and sense of humor you just can’t …
Reasons to Retire in Panama – Modern Aging Interview Read More »
I recently finished reading the book “A Better Life for Half the Price” by Tim Leffel. This is the second edition of the book and it was just released this past November. Why was I reading this book when I’m already living that kind of life? Two reasons: 1) It’s intriguing to read about living in different areas of the world and compare my experiences from the U.S. and Panama. 2) I’m quoted in it a few times (how cool …
A Better Life for Half the Price… Sound Appealing? Read More »
It’s crazy to realize that I retired at the age of 43 two years ago. December 31, 2018, was my last day of “working for the man” hopefully forever! Now it’s time to present some lessons learned during that time. In the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) community, you tend to read info from a lot of folks who are on the path to financial freedom but aren’t there yet. While that’s great and can present a lot of great …
4 Lessons Learned After Two Years of Early Retirement Read More »
Yeah, no need for us to imagine here… 53 whole days without internet at home. That’s almost two full months. Although we made a small mistake on our end that didn’t help, most of the cause of this falls on Panama just being Panama. And you don’t realize just how critical solid internet is at home until you need to go without it. It’s become such an essential part of our day-to-day lives… for better or for worse. We adjusted …
I first met Justin and Cody from The FI Show at a FinCon conference a couple of years ago. These might be two of the nicest guys I’ve ever meet. I believe that they were just starting their podcast at the time and they had asked me to be a guest at some point. I was game to do it but our paths didn’t really cross much for a while after that. Well, a few months ago, Justin and I …
