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  • Home
  • Countries

    Top Destinations:

    Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

    • Spain
    • Portugal
    • Panama
    • Belize
    • Colombia
    • Cyprus
    • Mexico
    • France
    • Montenegro
    • Browse All Countries

    Best For:

    • The Best Places To Retire
    • Health Care Abroad
    • Cost Of Living
    • Investing in Real Estate
    • Establishing Residency
    • Gun Laws In The World
    • English-Speaking Countries
    • Safest Places For Retirement
    • Best Places In Latin America
  • Budgets

    How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

    The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
    • Santa Marta, Colombia
    • Phuket, Thailand
    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

    Cheap

    • Medellin, Colombia
    • Boquete, Panama
    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
    • The Algarve, Portugal

    Affordable

    • Valencia, Spain
    • Cascais, Portugal
    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
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    • Mazatlán, Mexico

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    Live and Invest In Spain Conference

    Offshore Wealth Summit

    Argentina Workshop

    VALENCIA, SPAIN

    Sep. 17-19, 2025

    PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

    Oct. 15-17, 2025

    VIRTUAL

    Nov. 13, 2025

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    overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
    The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
    Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

    Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

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PORTUGAL WORLD'S #1
RETIREMENT HAVEN

Portugal: The World

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Home Countries Portugal

Why Braga, Portugal, Captured Our Hearts

Living Our Retirement Dream In Braga, Portugal

Historic Church of Bom Jesus do Monte and her public garden in Braga Portugal. best places to retire 2024

Adobe Stock/bennymarty

Joch first came to Portugal in 1979 as part of a U.S. State Department trade mission. He worked in the hospitality industry, so for two weeks, he participated in meetings and discussions about developing a tourism industry in the young democracy.

At the final dinner of his inaugural trip, during closing remarks, he emotionally blurted out that his dream was to return and retire in this awesome country…

Fast forward to 2019.

Joch was turning 70, so we decided to go to Portugal for his birthday. We spent two weeks in the Algarve, exploring cities and villages, beaches and markets, apartments and churches, supermarkets, and restaurants. We traveled by train to Lisbon for a three-day visit and also spent a day in Sintra.

By the time Joch retired in May 2019, it was clear that his dream from 40 years earlier was anything but an emotional outburst. We both wanted to retire in Portugal.

When we attended the Live And Invest Overseas Conference it was September 2019 in Houston. We figured the conference would support the dream and clarify our plans.

We compared Portugal to other retirement destinations, and it came out as our number one.

Also, we met Live And Invest Overseas’ recommended attorney on the ground and their local real estate partner. We also met other couples who were considering retirement overseas. These couples became friends and sounding boards. We remain connected via social media and postcards.

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How We Ended Up In Braga, Portugal

Flying back to California from Houston, we agreed that living in Portugal was our retirement goal, but we weren’t sure where.

We knew we liked the Algarve. Lisbon was too large a city for our comfort. Our nephew told us that Porto was his favorite spot in Europe and urged us to experience it.

In November 2019, we put our home up for sale. Jeff took early retirement from the state of California.

In January 2020, we went to San Francisco for our visa application appointments at Visa Facilitation Services.

LIOS’ recommended attorney supported our application preparation, including securing a Portuguese bank account, establishing our Portuguese tax identity, arranging a rental contract, and securing private medical insurance.

While waiting for our visas, LIOS’ real estate partner connected us with an associate in the north of Portugal who prepared a discovery tour of Porto and the Silver Coast to help us decide where we wanted to settle down.

The plan was in place, and everything was moving along well. We sold our car at the end of February 2020. Our passports arrived on March 5, 2020, with the visas inside.

We were set—our Portugal retirement dream would begin on March 30th with a non-stop flight from San Francisco to Lisbon.

But on March 11 at 5 p.m., we watched the breaking news that the U.S. borders were closing at midnight on March 13 because of COVID-19. We looked at each other in stunned silence…

What did this mean for us and our flight plan on March 30? Would the flight be cancelled?

We had visas, so we could go if we could get our flight changed. Joch started calling TAP Air Portugal flight reservations. After 125 calls with busy signals, he finally got through and changed the departure to March 13.

That evening, we caught the last flight out of San Francisco to begin our adventure…

We received urgent messages to secure an apartment in some city before the country was completely locked down.

We had no concept of what a country in lockdown was like.

Taking our nephew’s advice, we focused on Porto and rushed there the next day. We feverishly looked at vacant apartments as Portugal locked down, closed businesses, and implemented stay-at-home orders for all but essential workers.

Most importantly, thanks to LIOS’ contacts, by the following Monday we were safe and secure in a studio apartment to wait out the pandemic in Porto.

By June 2020, regulated businesses began to reopen, and we ventured out into Porto. Our Portuguese Immigration and Border Service appointment was scheduled for early August 2020.

The new friends we were making recommended realtors who could help us find a forever home. Our main criterion was proximity to the ocean.

We ultimately found the perfect spot: a condo that was under construction just two and a half blocks from the beach in the small village of Perafita, part of Matosinhos, a popular northern suburb of Porto. The condo is also a five-minute car ride from Porto’s international airport.

But the condo would not be finished for another 24 months. We needed an apartment rental. A friend suggested we check Braga out; it’s an hour’s train ride from Porto.

There’s much we love about Braga. It’s well-known for its religious heritage, cultural offerings, and numerous festivals.

Braga dates to a thriving ancient Roman metropolis, as evidenced by the many archeological artifacts that are found throughout the area. The medieval center of the city is a large pedestrian district filled with wonderful shops, restaurants, museums, theaters, and galleries.

Braga has weeklong festivals nearly every month of the year, a vibrant university, and large public gardens.

On Sundays, it’s wonderful to hear concertinas playing in the central plaza.

Yes, Braga has given us wonderful reasons to love Portugal as we prepare to move into our condo. Braga captured our hearts. We might just end up having a city house and a beach house…

Joch and Jeff Woodruff
Full-Time Portugal Expats

Tags: Bragaexpats in portugallive in Portugalmove to PortugalPortugalRetire In Portugal
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Jeff and Joch Woodruff

Jeff and Joch Woodruff

Jeff and Joch met in 2007 while volunteering on the board of a San Francisco non-profit organization. And, married in 2013. Joch turned 70 in 2019. So, Jeff suggested a January birthday trip to consider moving to Portugal. They flew to the Algarve, spent a couple of weeks exploring, visited Lisbon for three days and enjoyed a day in Sintra. They added two days and an overnight in Dublin on their return home. After comparing Portugal to numerous other retirement destinations Portugal remained the right decision for both of them. They reside in Braga. Their forever condo apartment is being built as they practice their Portuguese and plot post-pandemic trips around the world.

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HOME

Top Countries

  • Spain
  • Portugal
  • Panama
  • Belize
  • Colombia
  • Cyprus
  • Mexico
  • France
  • Montenegro

Best For:

  • Health Care Abroad
  • Retirement Living
  • Cost Of Living
  • Investing in Real Estate
  • Establishing Residency
  • Gun Ownership
  • English Speakers
  • Safety
BROWSE ALL COUNTRIES

Budgets

How Much Will It Cost
To Live Overseas?

Super Cheap

  • Chitré, Panama
  • Santa Marta, Colombia
  • Phuket, Thailand
  • Dumaguete, The Philippines

Cheap

  • Medellin, Colombia
  • Boquete, Panama
  • Kyrenia, Cyprus
  • Hua Hin, Thailand
  • The Algarve, Portugal

Affordable

  • Valencia, Spain
  • Cascais, Portugal
  • Las Terrenas, The DR
  • Pisa, Italy
  • La Rochelle, France
  • Mazatlán, Mexico

Luxury

  • Ambergris Caye, Belize
  • Kotor, Montenegro
  • The Panama City Beaches
  • Paris, France

Resources

Global Living

  • Living & Retiring Overseas
  • Raising A Family Abroad
  • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
  • Offshore & Diversification

Making Money

  • International Real Estate
  • Banking
  • Employment
  • Investing
Meet Our Experts

Real Estate

Overseas Property Alert 

 

How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams

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Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

READ MORE

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Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

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Live and Invest In Spain Conference

VALENCIA, SPAIN Sep. 17-19, 2025
Learn More About This Event

Offshore Wealth Summit

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA Oct. 15-17, 2025
Learn More About This Event
PRE-REGISTER

Argentina Workshop

VIRTUAL Nov. 13, 2025
Learn More About This Event
PRE-REGISTER
MORE EVENTS

Contact Our Events Team:

Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
1 (888) 627 8834

From Outside North America:
1 (443) 599 1221

Working Hours
Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

Store

Overseas Havens Reports

  • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

Conference Kits

  • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

Lahardan Books

  • Titles on living and investing around the world

Services

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  • The Simon Letter: Wealth Protection Insights
  • Global Property Advisor: Global Investment Opportunitites
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THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025

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