I am writing this post before Feb 29, so I can only project how I will have spent my extra time from leap day. However, I know two things for sure: I will be on a road trip from picking up my youngest for college spring break; and I will be just a few days into my return from a trip to the Philippines. I think I’ll be too jet-lagged [...]
This is our third trip in four years to the Philippines, but our first to Cebu. Previously we had visited Manila and Legazpi, but the Philippines is an archipelago made up of 7,107 islands! We are never going to visit all 7,107 – only 2,000 are inhabited. There are three main islands: Luzon, Mindanao and the Visayan Islands. Manila and Legazpi are both part of Luzon, and Cebu is part [...]
My favorite thing about watching movies on long airplane flights is that I invariably discover movies that I hadn’t yet heard of. These movies are too small to run in the big chain theaters, and don’t get enough award acclaim that I would have gotten free screeners of them during SAG Award voting season. We are currently on a trip to the Philippines, and with 18 hours of flying time [...]
I love my flexible consulting work and don’t plan on changing careers any time soon. That said, there are advantages to a traditional, full-time job, such as easier mortgage approval, subsidized healthcare and the camaraderie of an ongoing community. Now that we have moved to Florida, a traditional job would help us integrate. Healthcare off the Florida state exchange is cheaper than in New York, but health insurance is still [...]
“I am learning a lot about myself. It's exhilarating and horrible at exactly the same time.” Tricia, aspiring career changer I am a career coach, and one of my clients emailed me that sentiment to describe the mental gymnastics of trying to change careers after 10+ years in an area that no longer excited her. She was excited at the prospect of change, but the change itself felt really hard. I [...]
We get a lot of questions about how to get started in real estate investing. We’re not financial advisers so do not give financial advice, especially specific buy (or sell) recommendations. Besides, investment criteria for a first (or subsequent) investment should vary based on multiple, very personal factors, such as life circumstance, goals and priorities, risk appetite and your talents and expertise. Click to pin me! Instead of making specific [...]
We recently took a five-day trip, Thursday to Monday, to Tamarindo, which seemed a perfect example of bleisure (business + leisure) travel. We timed the trip around the annual homeowners’ association meeting at our condo complex, so it was first and foremost a business trip. Once we had the dates for the trip, we lined up other business meetings and errands since many things are best handled live - in [...]
A few months ago, we moved into one of our Florida rentals and have made Florida our primary residence as of 2020. The rental needed a lot of work, as we had a tenant in place for six years. A longtime tenant is great financially because there is no lost rent due to vacancy or turnover costs in-between move-ins. However, when you do turn over the unit, there is a [...]
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