I’m Struggling Right Now

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

I’m struggling.  I’ve been very careful to keep politics and other sensitive issues out of my blog.  We all have our opinions, of course, but I just don’t think this particular blog is the right place for that kind of discussion. So I’m going to try to keep this high-level on that front, but there’s something that’s affecting me deeply right now. Unless you’re living under a rock, you know about the shootings that have been happening in our school […]

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Why You Truly Need to Get Out of Debt

18 Comments / Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / /

It’s nothing new to hear that if you’re in the red, you should make it a priority to get out of debt. Let’s face it, debt sucks.  We all know it, but here in the U.S., we just can’t seem to stay away from it. NerdWallet states that the average household that has credit card debt is carrying a balance of $15,654… ouch. And that doesn’t even count other forms of debt – mortgages, car loans, student debt, etc. Ok,

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So You Wanna Write a Book? Maybe I Can Help…

16 Comments / Self-Employment / /

Ever had that thought periodically running through your mind to write a book?  I sure did. Then one day I just decided to do it. I had some great ideas to write a book based on technology.  I’ve been in the IT field as a systems engineer and now the engineers’ manager for almost 20 years now. However, my thoughts for the book were actually focused more on the simpler stuff that family and friends were always asking me about.

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When It Comes to Personal Finance... I Don't Know It All

When It Comes to Personal Finance… I Don’t Know It All

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

For a guy that’s beat the odds and made it to that fancy millionaire status, you’d think I’d know most – if not everything – when it comes to personal finance.  But here’s something that’s probably not much of a shocker… I don’t.  Not even close. When I first started this blog in May of 2015, I thought I was so smart when it came to finances.  Maybe not exactly a financial genius per se, but perhaps one smart cookie

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How to Pay Yourself First

10 Comments / Saving, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / /

Pay yourself first.  I’m sure we’ve all heard it a million times.  It’s simple and to the point.  If you want to build up your wealth, you need to pay yourself first. When I was a teenager, that mantra was something my grandfather used to preach to me repeatedly.  He was truly an inspiration to me – he retired when he was in his mid-forties and lived to be in his mid-nineties.  So when he would tell me something, I

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A Fun Interview on Our Plans to Move to Panama

2 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Panama / /

Hey everyone – I just wanted to let you know that Laurie at The Three Year Experiment recently invited me to be interviewed on her series, “Location Independent, International Jobs.” I was excited to say yes and she hit me with all kinds of great questions (both financial and otherwise) regarding our plans to move to Panama in a couple years. Among other things, we talked about working or not working, schooling for my daughter, costs of living, and of course the

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What if Moving to Panama Sucks?

What if Moving to Panama Sucks?

30 Comments / Geoarbitrage, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts, Panama, Travel and Vacation / /

If you’re a regular follower of my blog, you know we’re moving to Panama in 2020 – Boquete, Panama to be specific. I’ll be quitting my job at the end of 2019 and then getting everything prepared and ready to go while my daughter finishes her fourth-grade year of school. To say we’re excited would be an understatement.  In the blink of an eye, everything’s changing.  We’ll have vast new territory to explore and no 9-5 jobs getting in the

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Can You Make Money Blogging? I Am.

45 Comments / Self-Employment, Blogging, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / /

Can you make money blogging?  It’s one of the first questions people tend to ask once they find out I have a blog. I’ve seen plenty of posts that make it sound like you can make a fortune by blogging.  Start a blog, put some ads on it, then just sit back enjoying piña coladas on the beach, while your steady flow of passive income rolls in. Jim, you’re giving me a look – are you saying there’s more to

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Is the 4% Rule Safe to Use in Retirement Planning?

Is the 4% Rule Safe to Use in Retirement Planning?

22 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments / /

The 4% rule is probably one of the most well-known ideas in the FIRE (financial independence/early retirement) community.  It provides a way to put some actual numbers to your future needs. But is it safe to rely on this rule for your own retirement planning? Let’s start with digging in a little further on what the 4% rule is first…   Some background on the 4% rule The biggest focus folks have in retirement planning is how much money they

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Personal and Financial Goals for 2018

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

That’s right, folks – it’s time for me to set some goals for 2018.  Sure, it’s a little blasé, but it’s that time of year after all. So why do a blog post on goals I’m setting?  There’s one good reason – it keeps me accountable. I’ve always hated the idea of “writing down my goals.”  You’ve probably heard time and again that putting your goals on paper (or digital paper!) will help push you to make them happen… such a

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