How much will your retirement cost? Do you have any idea? It’s one of those evergreen questions the financial media regularly ask in headlines that pop up seemingly every other Tuesday. Easy to understand why: Every study that reports on Americans’ biggest financial worries inevitably lands on “cost of retirement” as one of the top […]

“If I could just get to $50,000,” Jason told me, “I’d be set. I’d be happy for the rest of my life.” I occasionally reflect on that moment, circa 1995, when I was standing in my front yard with my then brother-in-law. This was in Corinth, Texas, just north of Dallas. My then-wife and I […]

When Ian Douglass struck up a friendship with David Konwiser in grade school in Los Angeles, he didn’t realize it would change his whole life. David’s mother Cecilia is from Costa Rica and, when she saw how much Ian loved surfing and nature, she was adamant he visit her home country. After a decade of […]

I was born on Jan. 27, 1966. In a few weeks, I’ll be 55. I’ve seen firsthand a lot of the events that defined the U.S. over those intervening years. But Jan. 6, 2021…that’s the day America as I know it ended. Let’s call it Insurrection Day. Understand that what I am about to write […]

Do you dream of living in another country long enough to truly explore the depths of its culture, but haven’t figured out a way to do it without draining your bank account? If you answered “yes” to that question, then I have the solution for you. It’s one of the best ways to earn abroad, […]

“Right now, I feel blessed. I’m doing what I want, where I want, when I want,” says Ellen Makleroy. The Florida native is sipping an iced coffee surrounded by video and photography gear on the shaded deck of the Zanook wakeboarding park outside of Bangkok, Thailand. Behind her, wakeboarders are jumping ramps and doing tricks […]

More than two decades ago, retired businessman Sidney Richardson traded a high-pressure career in the property and insurance sector for the sunny beaches and relaxed lifestyle of the Algarve in southern Portugal. With 300 days of sunshine a year, stunning beaches, and world-class golf, the Algarve is now an internationally renowned tourist and expat destination. […]

I set up my tripod in a sunny patch between two trees, excited to capture this gorgeous day on my smartphone camera. There’s lush foliage all around me…old-growth trees, flowering shrubs, a variety of grasses in a variety of colors.  The sky is an intense cornflower blue, and there’s a faint scent of frangipani in […]

Finally—a remote-worker incentive plan that actually makes a lot of sense. Greece! I’m sure you’ve seen in recent months all the Caribbean locations that are offering special visas to Americans (and others) who want to live and work from the beach as digital nomads. That’s all well and good, and the Caribbean is certainly a […]

“Where’s the best place to live as a remote worker?” I regularly hear some iteration of that question from friends and acquaintances, so I thought I would answer it today in light of new research out of Upwork, the freelance website I regularly write about. The company surveyed a bunch of Americans and concluded that […]

Let me start by saying that I have no natural aptitude for languages. I’m a 59-year-old retired police detective who still has vivid memories of trying, and failing miserably, to learn French in high school. But once I retired, my wife and I thought we’d like to travel to warmer climes during the bitterly cold […]

As working from home becomes the new norm in the U.S. and around the world, many people are beginning to wonder why they should remain in expensive urban centers when they could just as easily work online from a more affordable, beautiful, and enriching destination overseas. Unsurprisingly, one of the most popular regions among workers […]