moving to Portugal

wino1943 New member

Member since 02 April 2016

wino1943New member04 April 2016 22:39:28

We had almost decided to look at Panama to retire, but now Portugal also looks good, particularly that it is in Europe. Is Portugal a pretty civilized country, ie: good sanitation, water, roads, etc? Is the language hard to learn in you have some basic Spanish language skills? My girlfriend and I have about $5000.00 U.S. per month as retirement income and about $70,000 savings. We do not want to be in a large city. Is that enough to live pretty well? We do not want to buy a home.
Looking at next summer to relocate but will visit first. Is English spoken enough to get to where we want to go without a problem? Is it a lot of trouble to get permanent residency? Is there private insurance health care for the better hospitals?
Lots of ? I know, but these are ? we already have answered for Panama so have to start all over with Portugal. Would also appreciate knowing what is the biggest concern you have on a daily basis. I know theft is a problem in all countries with significant poverty, and I read corruption there is high also.
Many thanks to anyone who responds.
Bill

vtorres Active member

Member since 01 February 2012

vtorresActive member05 April 2016 08:40:58

I
First of all I think it is not wise to mention monetary values.
Any way, I think you will not have poblem to stay and live in PT but it allway depends what you want to do.
English language will be enough in the big /medium center areas (Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra and Algarve region) but not so easy in the interior rural villages. Spanish is fine for almost of Portuguese at least for a basic conversation.
There are several insurance for medical assistance avaialable.