Retiring in Portugal vs the UK
Collaborative Post
When you decide to stop your full-time working life and retire, it is an opportunity to revaluate what is important to you, a point at which you can take back full control of your life.
It is likely that your children are independent, your mortgage paid off and your retirement lump sum yours to do with as you please.
The simplest and least challenging thing to do is to stay put, buy a new car, refit the kitchen and go on a cruise. Increasing numbers of retirees, however, are using retirement as an opportunity to reinvent themselves, to move abroad and start a new life in a new country.
Portugal is just a two and a half hour flight from the UK, but it offers a completely different style of life and it is one that is attracting growing numbers of British retirees.
Your money will go a lot further
Portugal has one of the lowest costs of living in Europe, which is around 30% cheaper than the cost of living in the UK. The country’s temperate climate and year-round sunshine mean that you’ll save a fortune on those British winter heating bills. All of which means, of course, that you’ll have more disposable income to do the things that you enjoy.
Property is much more affordable
A move to Portugal would give you the opportunity to own the kind of property that you could never dream of in the UK. Not only can you buy a home in a wonderful location, but you will be able to afford so much more space. As in the UK, prices vary throughout the country, but in a popular location like Santarem, the average house price is around 170,000 euros, which of course means that you can find plenty of properties for a lot less, too.
Beach life
If you love sun and sea, then Portugal, with its 1000-mile coastline and, in the Algarve, around 300 days of sunshine per year, is the place for you.
The 2020 World Travel Awards have identified the 100 beaches of the Algarve as the best beach destination in the world and when you stop to think about the competition for that title, it’s quite an accolade.
Quality of life
Portugal is a country with a rich cultural heritage, evident in the glorious architecture and thriving arts scene. Its capital, Lisbon, is one of the world’s great cities, where you can enjoy world class entertainment, fine dining and a shopping experience to rival that of Paris, all at a fraction of the cost of other European capitals.
The climate, the landscape, the quality of food and wine, the golf, the sailing and a hundred other pleasures mean that you’ll never be bored, and find yourself slumped in front of daytime television, as you might in the UK.
Portugal tops the Annual Global Retirement Index for 2020
This award looked at 24 countries in terms of various categories such as: cost of living, benefits to pensioners, climate, healthcare and accommodation and, hardly surprisingly, Portugal was the resounding winner.
