Hi

[Wired]

Hello,
I've been lurking here for a while and decided it was time to contribute. I'm 40 and still working but mostly working on getting out of working. My wife still has birthdays but apparently they don't count anymore but I think she's around my age!* * We currently live in Southern Ontario in Canada.
I paid off the mortgage before we met, neither one of us has any payments, no kids and both have average paying jobs. Maybe a little above average depending on where average is these days. All the money all our friends put into buying toys or paying payments on toys, we put into investments. Unfortunately, I went through the "the one with the most toys wins" stage of my life and blew a lot of money on useless things but I'm on track now. I have a friend helping us learn about investing so we can get more out of the money we put away.
Between us we have about $200K in investments and add about $2000-$2300 per month to the pile. We hope to retire in Central America in 6-8 years.
That's the short version. Glad to be here!

[Martha]

Welcome to the monkey house!

[M. Kaleko]

Hi Wired,

Monkey No. 4620037ATK1 here. I have wings and live in the jungle, not the house.

So what kind of investment strategies are you into? (Warning: that'll show your religion, so to speak).

And which Latin American country are you considering for retirement? I have several friends in Guatemala, near Lake Atitlan somewhere. There's a fairly big international community there, and it's supposed to be a nice refuge despite political unrest still going on.

Kaleko

[Wired]

Martha, thanks for the welcome.* *

Quote:

Monkey No. 4620037ATK1 here. I have wings and live in the jungle, not the house.

No idea what that means*

Quote:

So what kind of investment strategies are you into? (Warning: that'll show your religion, so to speak).

My main investment strategy is buy low, sell high!* 8)* Other than that, so far I'm investing in well established companies paying rising dividends/distributions. I'm still in the learning phase so I'm doing well enough to know when to buy, but not experienced enough to know when to sell. So far the markets are doing well enough that the companies I have don't need to be considered for when to sell them, but I know the time will come when I need to recognize when to sell.

As for where I hope to retire, I have an area picked out in Costa Rica that I like and I've heard good things about Panama and Guatemala. So I will likely go to Costa Rica and rent something and start exploring.

[gtmeouttahere]

Hey wired, welcome to the board. I also plan on relocating/ESRing in central america. Plan on visiting Panama in July for a few weeks and meeting up w/a member of this board "ARIF" who lives down there now. If all goes well, we will move w/in a year.

From all I've read and talked to him about I'm starting to fall in love with Panama. We are both in our early/mid thirties (so are our wifes) and love the opportunity that Panama affords us at a young age. There are a few other areas i'm interested in in Central America, but I've found that few can offer us the deal that Panama can...They appear to be very expat friendly and have numerous incentives to become a part of thier society, also very "cheap" to live. I can't wait to explore the region more in depth. Good times lay ahead if you stay focused on your goals, you can get there.

[Wired]

I haven't been to Panama yet but I've been to Costa Rica several times. In Costa Rica, I like the area around Atenas and I like the San Isidro area, but that's only because the time I've spent in Costa Rica has been in those areas. Overall, I really like Costa Rica but it seems to be getting developed (too) quickly and prices seem to be rising (too) quickly. I've heard that Panama is warmer than Costa Rica but I'm sure I could climatize to that. All I have to do is think about the snow I have to shovel here and I'm sure I can learn to put up with the heat!*

We're very focused on our goals so we have little doubt that those goals will be realized. But we also realize that a lot of things can happen to make those goals go off track. But we're focused and planning!

[gtmeouttahere]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wired I've heard that Panama is warmer than Costa Rica but I'm sure I could climatize to that. All I have to do is think about the snow I have to shovel here and I'm sure I can learn to put up with the heat!*

That's exactly why I left Minnesota. Damn snow plows and broken shovels!!