Portugal is The Best Place in the World to Retire to

Portugal has an existing expat community of roughly 500 000 expats and has recently been recognised as the best place in the world to retire to in 2023.

According to the Annual Global Retirement Index, Portugal finished with an average score of 87.43 % . The study takes into account factors such as:

• housing
• cost of living
• visas/benefits
• affinity rating
• development/governance
• climate
• safety 
• healthcare

Healthcare in Portugal,  is experienced by expats to be both affordable and excellent. All residents have free access to the public healthcare systems, there are also state-of- the- art private facilities as well as affordable private medical schemes. English is taught in the government schools so many of the locals, especially the younger generation, have a good grasp of the language and with the existing and ever- growing community of expats, English is widely used as the common alternative to the Portuguese language.

Although Portugal’s climate varies from region to region, you can generally count on warm summers, mild autumns and  moderate winters.  If you love the sunshine, Portugal is the place for you. According to `Sunnydays´, Portugal is the country with largest number of sunny days in Europe. In the southern regions there are about 300 sunny days a year.

Highlighted in the report are also its fresh drinkable water supply, availability of reliable high-speed internet, and its easy to-navigate roads ( drivers license is a simple exchange, no driving test necessary).Safety is also a highly ranked denominator- Portugal ranking 6th in the  2022 Global Peace Index.

According to ´Expatistan` Portugal is ranked as the 3rd cheapest country in Western Europe, costs of living are an estimated 36 percent lower than the UK and roughly 40 percent lower than the US. According to ´Numbeo` a family of four estimated monthly costs are 2,020.3€ without rent this obviously depends largely on the lifestyle you chose to live. Dining out can also be reasonably economical, with many local restaurants offering lunch menus including a drink and dessert for roughly €10.00

Besides being a beautiful country with friendly people and incredible beaches and food, there are many other reasons why you should consider moving to Portugal. But for many current and future expats, there can also be some tax advantages to moving to Portugal. Foreign pensioners who move to Portugal are exempt from paying tax on their pensions. There are two methods: the` Agreement on Double Taxation` and the `Personal Income Tax Regime for Non- Habitual Residents`. There is also Portugal’s Golden Visa program, which is one of the most popular residency by investment programs in Europe and in the world. The Portugal Golden Visa program, which is also known as the Residence Permit for Investment Activity (ARI), is a residency by investment scheme designed for non-EU citizens. The program started in October 2012 and since then over 11,000 applicants have received their Golden Visas.

These are only some of the many reasons why Portugal is considered The place to retire to in 2023.