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Home Countries Portugal Algarve

Retirement On The Coast Of Algarve, Portugal

Best Place To Live The Good Life On The Continent On A Budget

Kathleen Peddicord by Kathleen Peddicord
Mar 01, 2017
in Algarve, Portugal, Retirement/Living
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castle-like building on the coast of the Algarve
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I wrote yesterday about a region of Western Europe that I believe qualifies as the best place to live or retire in the Old World on a budget.

Heck, this is a pretty nice place to call home even if you’re not living on a budget.

Where am I talking about?

The Algarve, Portugal.

Recently, we spoke with our correspondent on the ground in the Algarve, Luis da Silva…

LIOS: In your opinion, Luis, what are the five key attractions for expats of the two regions in the Algarve that you’re recommending specifically, Silves and Lagoa?

Luis: Great weather, year-round. Existing expat community, with English spoken by many. Very competitive cost of living. Low or zero tax for those who qualify. And the cost of real estate, which is very competitive for Europe.

LIOS: When is the best time of year to make an exploratory visit… or, to put it another way, is there any time of the year when the weather would make it difficult to get out and explore?

Luis: There are no bad months… though we do have a winter here. January and February are a bit colder. My favorite months are September and October, when the summer crowds have gone but the weather and sea temperature are still glorious.

LIOS: How difficult is it for an American to get residency in Portugal?

Luis: Not difficult at all. In fact, the government has been working to make it easier all the time for foreign nationals to become legal residents. Today you have the Golden Visa program (which offers residency through investment)… as well as the straightforward minimum-income opportunity.

The minimum-income residency option requires you to show that you have a guaranteed source of income that amounts to at least two times the Portuguese minimum wage. Right now, that works out to US$1,200 per month.

LIOS: Resale apartments can be great value along the Algarve coast (from 100,000 euros), but it seems that houses and villas can be expensive, especially for a country that has suffered so much during the crisis and is still recovering. Are there any megadeals to be had?

Luis: Yes, there are some very good deals, though they’re less common than a year or two ago. One of the reasons is that Portugal did not have the level of overbuilding seen in Spain. Bottom line, it is still a buyer’s market. Distressed private sellers and bank repossessions provide the best bargain deals.

LIOS: What about a renovation?

Luis: Silves is a good municipality for renovations for two reasons. In Silves’ city center you have a range of wonderful old buildings, some of which have been abandoned. Outside the city are rural properties that have been left as owners moved to cities. A Silves city property could be a great project, especially if it’s located near the river. It could even be eligible for a government grant.

LIOS: Luis, you’ve mentioned that it’s easy to open a bank account in Portugal, even for U.S. citizens? Is this still the case?

Luis: Yes, it’s true… even for Americans.

LIOS: In some parts of the world, the costs for medical care can be so low that it can make more sense to pay as you go rather than investing in expensive health insurance. Could that be an option in Portugal?

Luis: Yes, absolutely, once you have the right to use the public system. Before then, insurance is advisable. In fact, the Golden Visa program, for example, requires that you prove you have insurance for the first year at least. However, you have very reasonable insurance options, including for less than 20 euros per person per month in some instances.

LIOS: Who would you say would most enjoy living in the Algarve?

Luis: Someone who likes to be active, who appreciates a tranquil location, who wants to be part of an expat community, but who also wants a chance to become part of a local community…

If you don’t like great weather, stay away.

If you want a very good cost of living for the quality of life on offer, then this part of Portugal is a great option, especially, right now, for Americans, thanks to the rate of exchange between the euro and the U.S. dollar.

Kathleen Peddicord

Discover An Incredible Opportunity To Invest In Colombia's Dynamic And Growing Tourism Capital Of Cartagena

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Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live, retire, and do business overseas beat for more than 30 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on these subjects. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 21, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland... then to Paris, France... next to Panama City, where she has based her Live and Invest Overseas business. Most recently, Kathleen and her husband Lief Simon are dividing their time between Panama and Paris.

Kathleen was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. In that capacity, she opened her first office overseas, in Waterford, Ireland, where she managed a staff of up to 30 employees for more than 10 years. Kathleen also opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France.

Kathleen moved on from her role with Agora in 2007 and launched her Live and Invest Overseas group in 2008. In the years since, she has built Live and Invest Overseas into a successful, recognized, and respected multi-million-dollar business that employs a staff of 35 in Panama City and dozens of writers and other resources around the world.

Kathleen has been quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, the AARP, and beyond. She has appeared often on radio and television (including Bloomberg and CNBC) and speaks regularly on topics to do with living, retiring, investing, and doing business around the world.

In addition to her own daily e-letter, the Overseas Opportunity Letter, with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers, Kathleen writes regularly for U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.

Her newest book, "How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad," published by Penguin Random House, is the culmination of decades of personal experience living and investing around the world.

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