Caroline

Two towns in Italy – Santa Fiora in Tuscany and Rieti in Lazio -- will subsidize 50% of your rent if you work from there. You would need to be a digital nomad because authorization to work in Italy isn’t included in the deal. These towns are so small there likely wouldn’t be work awaiting you anyway. Or, if you’d rather stay Stateside, Zillow has named Jacksonville, FL (pictured above) [...]

How are you determining (without MLS in CR) the value of the home?  They ask for $400K just because they believe it is worth that price point.  Most don't seem to have a P&L to back ROI. – Dom Yes, it’s true that there is no MLS, or Multiple Listing Service, in Costa Rica, so there isn’t a one-stop information site to learn at what prices properties sold for, what [...]

Our oldest turned 25 recently – yikes, we have a kid old enough to have a quarter-life crisis! That milestone, as well as Mother’s Day just around the corner, put the work and family juggle back on my radar. (Speaking of yikes, our youngest turns 20 in a few months, so soon both kids will be in their 20’s!) The pandemic has made things particularly challenging for working moms – [...]

I’m a self-employed CPA struggling with the R in Fire. Financially I have the means to retire and I have been saying “no” to prospective new clients. I can’t believe it’s so hard to prioritize restructuring my business to free up my time. I’m always tackling client affairs and mine go on the back burner. Making myself priority #1, is tough!I’m not looking to retire 100% at this point but [...]

Our current portfolio is mostly traditional investments, including paper assets and rental real estate. However, we currently have about 5% of our money in two private loans: one to fund a fix and flip; and another to fund a growing start-up. We have considered other alternative investments (such as a coffee farm in Panama or special use facilities, like assisted living), but so far we have passed. Recently, we have [...]

If you have a job at a high enough salary that you can save a high percentage of it each year, you can calculate how long it takes for that savings pool to eventually grow large enough that it equals years of take-home pay. For example, if your net salary is $100,000, and you frugally live off of $30,000, you can bank $70,000 each year. Say that your salary just [...]

If you have seen my previous book round-ups, I read a lot – 33 books in 2020, and 43 books in 2019. I am on my sixth book for 2021, so at this pace, I’ll finish somewhere in-between the last two years. I didn’t set out to focus on travel books specifically, but three of my early choices for 2021 relate to travel in different ways. Take More Vacations by [...]

My FIRE challenge right now is actually the RE part. We are absolutely in a financial place to officially retire (my husband already is), but I'm holding on due to, well, fear. I have a very good job with excellent benefits working with great people that isn't hard but doesn't fulfill me at all. Quitting would put strain on some of those great coworkers so I'm battling with that guilt as [...]

The numbers are in for 2020, and despite Costa Rica borders being closed from March through November, we were able to eke out a small profit across our three properties. We attribute this to one major factor – owning all three properties outright, with no mortgage to cover. When you don’t have a monthly mortgage (or 3, since we own 3 properties), you don’t need much income to break-even. In [...]