ACA Subsidies Mean We Only Pay $227.34/Mo for Our Family of 3

ACA Subsidies Mean We Only Pay $227.34/Mo for Our Family of 3

22 Comments / Health and Fitness, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Insurance, Life in Early Retirement / By /

I talked last year about how we planned to keep our health insurance costs low once we moved back to the U.S. from Panama. Well, that time is now and I wanted to share how ACA subsidies have enabled us to keep our costs even lower than anticipated. One of the toughest areas to plan for in early retirement is health insurance. Finding quality health care coverage at an affordable price to tide you over until Medicare eligibility at 65 …

ACA Subsidies Mean We Only Pay $227.34/Mo for Our Family of 3 Read More »

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone Led to an 8-Night Fishing Trip of a Lifetime in Canada

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone Led to an 8-Night Fishing Trip of a Lifetime in Canada

18 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Life in Early Retirement / By /

I like to push myself to try new things that are outside of my comfort zone. A good example of this is when I hiked up a volcano in Panama earlier this year. Although it was definitely out of my wheelhouse, these are the sorts of things that help open my mind up to new and possibly great experiences. So when my cousin Dennis told me they had someone back out of their big week-long fishing trip in the bush …

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone Led to an 8-Night Fishing Trip of a Lifetime in Canada Read More »

I Need a Mental Break

I Need a Mental Break

30 Comments / Health and Fitness, Blogging, General Thoughts, Life in Early Retirement, Travel and Vacation / By /

I’m exhausted and I need a mental break. There’s this weird dynamic in the blogging (and social media) world where the more you’re out doing “stuff”, the more it looks like you’re out living the dream. I’ve never really cared much about all that but I do put my life out there for everyone (both good and bad). And this year, we’ve been insanely busy doing more stuff than I could have ever imagined. Most of you know that we’ve …

I Need a Mental Break Read More »

On the Road: The Wrap-Up and Some Fun Stats!

On the Road: The Wrap-Up and Some Fun Stats!

10 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Life in Early Retirement, Spending / By /

And we’re back! We just returned from 31 days on the road. Even though we didn’t plan for a specific number of days, we ended up traveling for a full month pretty much on the nose! We had so much fun and got to check out so many places we’d never been to before. Along the way, we had our share of headaches as well (that comes with traveling!) but I’m glad we did this trip while our daughter’s still …

On the Road: The Wrap-Up and Some Fun Stats! Read More »

4 Easy Ways We Were Able To Save Money in Las Vegas… BIG Money!

4 Easy Ways We Were Able To Save Money in Las Vegas… BIG Money!

8 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Life in Early Retirement, Spending / By /

I’m always happy to save money in Las Vegas. I’ve been there a lot over the years and every time it’s a little different. Regardless, of the trip though, I’m always all about “finding the best deals.” We’re currently on our month-long road trip around the country and just spent a whopping 8 nights in Vegas! That’s the longest I’ve ever stayed there in one trip. In that amount of time, we crammed in a lot of fun including walking …

4 Easy Ways We Were Able To Save Money in Las Vegas… BIG Money! Read More »

Our Summer Road Trip So Far Includes a Flood, Wildfires, Freezing Temps, Blistering Heat, Strong Winds, and a Thrown-Out Back!

Our Summer Road Trip So Far… Mother Nature’s Vengeance!

8 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Health and Fitness, Kids, Life in Early Retirement, Spending / By /

Yeah, there’s a lot going on there, right? Looking at a title like this, you might feel convinced that our summer road trip has been a bust. I can’t argue with that line of thinking. There’s not one thing on this list that sounds positive at all. So you might be surprised to know that the first two weeks of our summer road trip have actually been a ton of fun. And two of Mother Nature’s natural disasters made us …

Our Summer Road Trip So Far… Mother Nature’s Vengeance! Read More »

Renting an Apartment With No W2 Income as a Retiree

14 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Blogging, Real Estate / By /

Not having a W2 income was one of the things that made me a little uneasy when planning for early retirement. Would renting an apartment or getting a mortgage for a place be a massive headache? My concern stands that when you need to open a new line of credit or fill out a rental application, one of the expected questions for you to answer is “what’s your annual income?” For the most part, we’re living off our portfolio income. …

Renting an Apartment With No W2 Income as a Retiree Read More »

Planning a Road Trip… Learning From 3 Simple Mistakes

Planning a Road Trip… Learning From 3 Simple Mistakes

12 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Life in Early Retirement, Product and Service Reviews, Spending / By /

In 2020, we bought a 2012 Honda Pilot and took off across the country for over a month. Even though we were planning a road trip this big, we didn’t focus too much on every detail. Instead, the goal was simple – take advantage of the less empty roads and sites during the pandemic and tour the country. Sometimes we’d sleep in the back of the Pilot, other times we’d do some tent camping, and periodically we could stay the …

Planning a Road Trip… Learning From 3 Simple Mistakes Read More »

Lisa’s Now a Secret Shopper… Is This Legit or Even Worthwhile?

Lisa’s Now a Secret Shopper… Is This Legit or Even Worthwhile?

14 Comments / Self-Employment, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Saving / By /

Have you ever heard of those mythical jobs where you’re hired to go into a store or restaurant as a customer and then report back and get paid? Generally, that person is known as a secret shopper or a mystery shopper. Yeah, well, here’s a little treat – they’re real. I had forwarded over a link to Lisa for a company called Market Force Information that acts as a liaison for this exact purpose. Sure enough, after Lisa dug into …

Lisa’s Now a Secret Shopper… Is This Legit or Even Worthwhile? Read More »

3 Attainable Characteristics That Drastically Improved My Quality of Life

3 Attainable Characteristics That Drastically Improved My Quality of Life

14 Comments / Motivation, Education, General Thoughts, Health and Fitness, Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Travel and Vacation / By /

None of us are perfect. That’s life and we all know it. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to improve our quality of life. That applies to us physically, mentally, and spiritually. Doing so can make you healthier, stronger, smarter, and happier. I have this innate tendency to not become complacent. I want to continually work on bettering my quality of life. I want to become the best person I can be. I know that I’ll never be able …

3 Attainable Characteristics That Drastically Improved My Quality of Life Read More »