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One of My Favorite Ways To Learn How To Save Money

One of My Favorite Ways To Learn How To Save Money

8 Comments / Product and Service Reviews, Consumer Protection, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Saving, Spending / /

Those of you on the path to financial independence know there are only two ways to fatten your wallet: make more money or spend less. Today, I want to focus on telling you about an invaluable tool to learn how to save money. Most folks tend to start with cutting out the excess spending in their lives simply because it can be much easier than chasing after making more money. Regardless, both areas can be largely worthwhile and beneficial for […]

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The FIRE Planner – A Solid Start in the Quest for FI

The FIRE Planner – A Solid Start in the Quest for FI

3 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Education, Geoarbitrage, Investments, Product and Service Reviews, Real Estate, Saving / /

I just finished reading a really good book. It’s called The FIRE Planner and it might be a great asset for those ready to get on the path to financial independence or those who are already on it. The FIRE Planner was written by a friend of mine named Michael Quan. I met Michael at one of the FinCon money conferences a few years ago (I believe it was the 2017 expo in Dallas). It seems like FinCon events are

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The Beach, a Sloth, and Monkey Lalas...

The Beach, a Sloth, and Monkey Lalas…

14 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Life in Early Retirement, Panama / /

That title almost sounds like it could be the beginning of a joke but it’s far from it. If you enjoy the beach, vacationing, or exotic animals, this post is for you! Last week, I told you that my in-laws were in town. We spent the first four days in the area here Giving the In-Laws the Grand Tour of Boquete, Panama! and showing them around the local area. But last week was even more fun because we rented a

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Giving the In-Laws the Grand Tour of Boquete, Panama!

Giving the In-Laws the Grand Tour of Boquete, Panama!

21 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Panama / /

Well, folks, I’m excited to say that our first visitors have come to stay with us. My in-laws arrived at Enrique Malek International Airport in David, Panama last Wednesday where we were waiting to pick them up and bring them back to Boquete. Traveling internationally isn’t the easiest thing to do so I had put together a guide to help them make the trip to Panama a little less hassle-bound. I stripped out all the details specific to them (reservation

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I’m Now a 401(k) Millionaire – Can You Be One, Too?

I’m Now a 401(k) Millionaire – Can You Be One, Too?

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

So here’s something unexpected… I just became a 401(k) millionaire last week. As an early retiree, I had rolled over my 401(k) into a traditional IRA in March 2019. So on a technicality, I’m really a rollover IRA millionaire, but it’s still my 401(k) account sitting there with nothing new added to it since January 2019. I had even pulled a little over $60,000 out of the account in December 2019. That was part of the Roth IRA conversion ladder

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Investment Portfolio Changes I'm Making!

Investment Portfolio Changes I’m Making!

43 Comments / Investments, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Taxes and Financial Planning / /

It’s time to make some changes to my investment portfolio! I wrote a post last month called We Have a Lot of Cash in Hand Now… Too Much! that discussed how too much of our portfolio is sitting in cash. Apparently, that’s not uncommon right now as I received a lot of feedback in the comments and replies back from my mailing list (which I recommend you sign up for on the sidebar!). So I decided to write a post

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How and Why To Open a Custodial Roth IRA at Vanguard

How and Why To Open a Custodial Roth IRA at Vanguard

74 Comments / Investments, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Kids / /

I recently wrote a post called Teaching Kids About Money – Valuable Lessons Instilled. As I was in the process of writing it, I got motivated to open a custodial Roth IRA for my daughter, Faith. If you’re new to this blog, Faith is 10 years old (11 in a few months). When you hear that, you might be thinking, “What the @#$% does a 10-year-old need with a retirement account?” or “Um, Jim, don’t you need to have earned

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Stacking Benjamins Show Appearance – Retiring Abroad

Stacking Benjamins Show Appearance – Retiring Abroad

4 Comments / Podcasts and Other Appearances, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Geoarbitrage, Life in Early Retirement, Panama / /

I was very excited to be asked to appear on a special episode of the Stacking Benjamins Show recently. There aren’t many podcasts that I still listen to anymore, but I love listening to Joe, Paula, and Len on this show. It just seems like they’re having a lot of fun but with some good info presented along the way. In case you’re wondering, the other podcasts I still regularly listen to are: Afford Anything with Paula Pant ChooseFI with

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Teaching Kids About Money – Valuable Lessons Instilled

Teaching Kids About Money – Valuable Lessons Instilled

14 Comments / Kids, Debt, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Saving, Spending / /

Relying on schools to educate your kids about personal finance is generally not going to be a smart move… most schools don’t even have a curriculum to teach them the basics. When it comes to teaching kids about money, the onus falls on you. That’s good news because you have an opportunity to ensure that your children are learning the right information. Just as many parents haven’t been educated about personal finance, many teachers themselves haven’t been either. If you

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Traveling to Panama? The Ultimate Guide in Going from the U.S. to Boquete

Traveling to Panama? The Ultimate Guide in Going from the U.S. to Boquete

17 Comments / Panama, Travel and Vacation / /

I’m very excited to say that my in-laws have officially booked flights to visit us next month. But traveling to Panama isn’t for the faint of heart. If you’re not an avid traveler, you’re probably going to run into some stumbling blocks along the way. Heck, even if you are a regular traveler, you’ll probably run into your share of quirky issues. The difference is that it might be a little easier for the regular traveler to know what to

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