Guest Appearance on the FIRE Drill Podcast

2 Comments / Podcasts and Other Appearances, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / /

My year of opening up to podcast appearances continues to roll on!  Recently, I sat down with Gwen and J on the FIRE Drill podcast and we had a blast! I met Gwen from Fiery Millennials at FinCon last year shortly after she had hit me up about some questions she had on Panama.  She had an overnight stay there on her way to the Chautauqua in Ecuador. I hadn’t had the opportunity to talk to J previously, but knew her […]

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There is a Secret Formula to FI, But It Ain’t No Secret!

18 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Blogging, Debt, Investments, Motivation, Saving, Spending / /

Everyone likes a secret, but a secret formula?  Even better! Now that we’re only a few months out from me quitting my job, we’re starting to share the news more with friends and family. A lot of them seem to be a little confused, but then we talk about our planned move to Panama and it takes most folks to a level beyond comprehension. Eventually, though, we tend to get past that initial shock.  And then the “bold” ones out there

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I Was Wrong... It Really Is Who You Know

I Was Wrong… It Really Is Who You Know

38 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts / /

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I’ve always hated this saying.  It implies that hard work won’t get you as far as knowing someone will. As if you can get further just by knowing people instead of busting your butt! It’s insane… but I think it’s true. From my first job, all I ever did was bust my @#$ doing the best I could.  While others played around at the companies I was at, I always focused

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2 Weeks Notice? Here’s Why I Gave My Boss 6 Months!

25 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts / /

When you’re deciding to leave an employer, it’s customary to give 2 weeks notice as part of your resignation.  The idea is that it gives the company enough time to transition the loose ends over to another employee. Really though, in many places, that’s not a lot of time.  If you’re in a very complex position or a company that’s project-oriented for instance, 2 weeks notice is barely enough to get the ball rolling.  And it’s likely to leave a

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Considerations for Planning to Retire Abroad

Considerations for Planning to Retire Abroad

17 Comments / Geoarbitrage, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Panama / /

With our recent announcement of us moving up our early retirement date to the end of 2018, the pressure’s now on.  We’re now planning to retire abroad to Panama in the summer of 2019. The news was exciting for us to share, but now reality’s setting in.  Although a year seems like a lot of time, there’s really a lot that needs to be done. It would be one thing if we were just moving to another country for a

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Shit Just Got Real... Moving Early Retirement Up to 2018!

Shit Just Got Real… Moving Early Retirement Up to 2018!

54 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts, Panama / /

So things just got interesting here in the R2R household.  We’ve decided to move our early retirement date up to be 12/31/18. Yeah, that’s right – just over six months from now.  Crazy, right? Then to top it off, we decided to push up our move to Panama as well.  We’ll now be starting that adventure about a year from now in the summer of 2019. Making the decision to move up our early retirement date isn’t a decision we’re taking

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If You're Not Happy Now, FIRE Can't Fix That... Baloney!

If You’re Not Happy Now, FIRE Can’t Fix That… Baloney!

20 Comments / General Thoughts, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Motivation / /

Much of what I’ve read lately seems to revolve around the idea that if you’re not happy today, you won’t be happy once you reach FIRE (financial independence / retire early). After all, happiness is more than just whether or not you’re stuck in the rat race.  If you’re not content with your life now, how will quitting your job make any difference? Hmm, yeah, I’m sorry… I’m not buying it. Now before you jump to lashing out at me in

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Total Wireless… Same Verizon Network, Less $$$

55 Comments / Product and Service Reviews, Saving / /

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

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Homeschooling... a Great Start to Awkward Conversation

Homeschooling… a Great Start to Awkward Conversation

23 Comments / Education, Kids, Panama / /

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

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Guest Appearance on the Countdown to FI Podcast

2 Comments / Podcasts and Other Appearances, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / /

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

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