I retired in 2018 and moved to Portugal. I visit the States (NC) at least twice a year to visit my wife´s daughter. And each time, I am extremely happy to be returning to Portugal. The thing I probably miss the most is UNC Football. It can be a challenge to watch it here (the Wake game STARTS at 1:00am for me).
My cost of living is about 1/2 of what it was in Greensboro -
Cost of Living Comparison Between Braga, Portugal And Greensboro, NC, United States
There are NO guns, so basically there is no violent crime. In the 8 years I have lived here, I have heard of one murder in the entire country. I hear of at least 2-3 murders in Greensboro each visit I return to Greensboro, let alone the entire state.
Someone asked about insurance. First of all, like nearly every modern country except the US, Portugal has socialized medicine and it is free or extremely low-cost to use. Today my wife and I got our Covid and flu shots at the local pharmacy. Had an appointment, that the government sets up for you, walked in, got shots, walked out 15 minutes later. No cost. Colonoscopy exams, free every 5 years. But like all socialized medicine, there are usually long waits, so there are private hospitals, which we mainly use. And you can buy insurance for these type of hospitals at the local banks, private insurance companies, or even through the specific hospital chain itself. We buy two types, one through a private company that can be used in any hospital throughout the world, including 50k coverage in the US for about $120 each a month. We also have a private hospital chain insurance that reduces the basic cost of a Doctor´s visit from 35 Euro (!) to 10€ for the first 10 visits a year, discounts on most procedures and more. It costs us about $20 a month each. So, our insurance costs to get comparable insurance to what we had in the US is $140 a month per person fo a healthy 61 year old male and a 65 year old woman with pre-existing conditions. To answer someone else, yes, you can keep Medicare while outside the US. It does nothing for you, but you can have it.
Taxes - I only pay US taxes, as when I moved to Portugal, they had a plan that allowed immigrants who relied solely on retirement income to live 10 years with no Portuguese taxes. That plan no longer exists. So, yes, you can pay double for taxes. Talk to an accountant.
Sometimes it can be lonely living as a stranger in a strange land, but other than that, I wouldn´t trade it for anything. I will probably die here in Portugal, especially now with this election results and what probably will happen in the US, but I am happy that I moved here.
