Our July adventure is officially over and now I’m wondering if we were spending too much throughout the month. As most of you already know, we’re moving to Panama later this month. When we booked our flight earlier this year, my wife, Lisa, wanted to wait until the end of summer to fly out so we could go on vacation with her side of the family first. Because of that, we were running a month-to-month lease on our apartment for […]
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
Did These Flip-Flops Lead Us to Financial Freedom? Read More »
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
Retirement Problems: My 2 Biggest Fears Since Retiring Read More »
“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
Striving to Be (Somewhat) Lazy in Early Retirement Read More »
I recently completed a transfer of our health savings account (HSA) from Health Equity to Fidelity. Today, I want to tell you why I made this move and explain the process. First off, if you aren’t familiar with health savings accounts, they’re one of the most valuable accounts you can have in your arsenal. I’ve talked about how an HSA is the best bang for your buck in that the account belongs to you and not your employer. Unlike a
We Moved Our Health Savings Account to Fidelity! Read More »
I left my management job in IT at the end of 2018 at the age of 43. The goal was to reach early retirement with my family so we could live a life of freedom and adventure… and now we’re homeless. This might sound unexpected, but here’s the thing – that was exactly the plan. Being homeless is something we’ve been working toward for a long time now. For those of you familiar with our path, this shouldn’t come as
6 Months of Early Retirement… We’re Now Homeless Read More »
I’ve been wanting to be a part of the ChooseFI podcast shortly after it began. Jonathan and Brad launched the show at the end of 2016 and quickly took the FIRE community by storm! It’s a fantastic podcast helping to discuss the path to financial independence. They bring on various guests to examine different aspects and strategies of reaching FI. What’s really great though is that they also focus quite a bit on enjoying the journey along the way. I
Global Entry was something pretty foreign to me at this time a year ago. We love to travel, but most of it has been domestic here in the U.S. The biggest exception to that are the cruises that we love to take. But here’s the thing – all the cruises we’ve been on are considered closed loop sailings. That means that we departed and returned to the same U.S. port when the trip was over. It also means going that
Global Entry – Why You Need It and How to Get It for Free Read More »
By early 2017, we had finally built our net worth up to over a million dollars. It was a great feeling to reach that milestone, but it didn’t really change things for us – we just continued to follow our plan. When I left my job at the end of 2018, we had a net worth of about $1.1 million and, thanks to the bull market still pushing ahead, it’s roughly $1.2 million right now. I’ve written a few posts
Although we’re ecstatic about this new adventure we’re embarking on, it’s worth noting that there are some downsides of moving to another country. That’s right – in just a couple of months in August of 2019, we’ll finally be making our move to Panama. It’s exhilarating and just a little scary at the same time. We’ve been preparing for this for several years now, but wanted to reach FIRE before we made it happen. It’s crazy to think that this
