How to retire in Portugal?
Published at: 15/04/2019 01:36 pm
Portugal is a safe haven for people, who intend to retire there. The most attractive issues are residency and later citizenship through the Golden Visa Program, and foreign sourced pensions are tax exempt for ten years.
Portugal has a pleasant and mild climate, the beaches and coastlines are charming. Real estate prices are still affordable, compared to the other European or North American cities. The health care system of the EU Member State provides European quality, and the cost is accessible even if we compare the prices to other developed countries.
According to CNN and Forbes, the southern Algarve region of Portugal is one of the best places for retirement. They estimate the cost of living in Portugal per month from 700 to 2200 USD (620-1950 EUR). Of course, the cheaper amount may be valid in smaller towns. Meanwhile, the higher amount is enough to live well in Lisbon or Porto.
How can you retire in Portugal?
The retirement age is 66 years and three months in Portugal. Meanwhile, EU citizens can transfer their contributions to Portugal from their home country, and they can easily change their addresses and move to Portugal, third country citizens can use the Golden Visa Programme. This small investors' immigration scheme offers several attractive solutions to settle in Portugal. Perhaps the most preferred option of the programme is the real estate investment solution.
To qualify, you have to purchase real estate with the value of at least 500,000 EUR or above. Another sub-option is to buy the property with a minimum amount of 350,000 EUR for refurbishing (properties must either have construction dating back more than 30 years or be located in urban regeneration areas). If you buy a real estate in low-density regions of Portugal, you can decrease the minimum amount of investment by 20% to 280,000 euros).
Low-density territories in Portugal are municipalities with less than 100 inhabitants per square kilometre or with a gross domestically (GDP) per capita less than 75% of the national average.
Advantages of Portugal's non-habitual tax incentive for retirement
The Portuguese government introduced the tax incentive in 2009 to attract "high value" individuals and industries. The Non-Habitual Regime is practically a tax holiday for ten years. If the retired resident has a source of income from Portugal, the tax is a flat 20% (instead of the maximum 48%). However, retired people and expats, who receive their pensions or funds from abroad can enjoy life under the Portuguese sun completely tax-free.
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