# Is a salary of 75K Euro Enough for large family?



## Riley

Hi, Please help me with determining a salary required for a good quality of life for a family of 6 in the Lisbon area. 

We are coming from Los Angeles, CA and the salary offered is quite a bit less than we are making here. We are excited about the opportunity to live overseas. 

I have done a lot of work on country comparisons. The large companies that do salary comparison surveys think that Lisbon is about the same price as Los Angeles. However, in reviewing forum information, people claim they can get by on a lot less money. 

I know the minimum wage in Portugal is 565.83 Euro per month. Here, the minimum wage is $8 USD/hour, but it is very difficult to live on $16.6K per year. 

Can a large family live comfortably (even save a little money) on a gross salary of 75,000 Euros per year in the Lisbon or Cascias type areas? We are not extravagant... but need to provide for housing, car, schooling, kids' activities.... everything - no expat package. 

Thank you for your time. Riley


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## Riley

Just to clarify, we will be renting a 4 bedroom and I am interested in the PT school system. Although, I have heard about semi-private that costs around 250 Euro per child. Any experience with that? Is it worth it?


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## Sonho

You could make it as long as you don't have school fees, which are high in Lisbon. I am not familiar with the semi-private option. When we checked Lisbon out, the fees ranged from EUR8,000 to EUR17,000 per child in the international schools.

I would budget EUR1500 - EUR2000 for housing. Food is more expensive than CA. What about your health insurance? Is that covered for you? What about a company car?

Going out is less expensive than CA. Ultimately, it depends on what your priorities are. You can have a comfortable life on 75K, but you won't have a lot left over.


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## siobhanwf

For realistic idea on rental pricing have a look at 

Rental - Houses - Cascais - Casa Sapo - Portugal's Real Estate Portal


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## siobhanwf

Although the minimum wage here is meant to be €5 ish most workers are just happy to get a job no matter what.
A neighbour was offered a job at €500 a month and the hours were from 2pm to 11pm and 6 days a week any extra hours that needed to be worked were NOT paid!!! here first week she worked 60 hours!!!! OH! yes she chucked the job in after two weeks.
At a new 5* hotel in the centre of Lisbon a receptionist is paid €500 a month ( the source of this info was a friend who is the GM)


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## Martins

I can just say that with 75k in Portugal even for a family of 6 you would live like a boss.


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## Sonho

Other things to think about are health insurance, retirement savings and university tuition savings (due to your US status).

Will the company sponsor a work permit for the spouse as well?


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## canoeman

As your working in and paying Portuguese Social Security then yours and your families health care comes under the National Health Service, private medical cover would be a personal choice not a necessity.


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## andyp65

Without knowing your full circumstances you should be able to live comfortably on a salary of this size, however your choice of schooling will determine whether you live very nicely or just nicely. Most expats moving over here throw their children into the Portuguese state system, its hard to begin with but from the feedback i have had it is the best way for them to learn the language and intergrate themselves, of course this is dependent on your plans, if you planning a short stay in Portugal of just a few years then you will probably want to keep your children on a similiar curriculum to what they have now. If it is to be a full time move then in the long term it would be better for your children to be in the state system, learning Portuguese on a daily basis. Cost of living is okay here unless you crave all things American then you will pay extra, in short you should have no problem on surviving on that salary.


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## siobhanwf

Sonho said:


> Other things to think about are health insurance, retirement savings and university tuition savings (due to your US status).
> 
> Will the company sponsor a work permit for the spouse as well?



Have to agree with Andy, unless you specifically want private health insurance there is no need. The health system here is covered if you are in the work system and paying social security. 
I have experienced a hospital stay here on two occasions and cannot fault the system...apart for the waiting on the day as the whole of Portugal seems to have an appointment for 2pm or 9am!!!
Depending on how old your offspring are will make a difference between make and break in the portuguese education system.


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## Sonho

siobhanwf said:


> Have to agree with Andy, unless you specifically want private health insurance there is no need. The health system here is covered if you are in the work system and paying social security.
> I have experienced a hospital stay here on two occasions and cannot fault the system...apart for the waiting on the day as the whole of Portugal seems to have an appointment for 2pm or 9am!!!
> Depending on how old your offspring are will make a difference between make and break in the portuguese education system.


Thanks for the info. As a very mobile expat (with a lot of country hopping), we are used to providing our own coverage.


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## Riley

*Thank you*

Thank you, everyone for all of the great info. I was just going to post regarding health insurance as I see it is listed in some of the cost of living posts for expats. I have also read it is unnecessary unless you need specialists. I think that is a cost we can do without. Also, I have been looking around the forum a lot and it appears that many people agree with the state school option. 

Again, thank you. As you know, it is hard to pick up and make such a big change. I wouldn't worry so much about the details if there weren't kids involved. You have helped us to feel more secure about our decision.


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## Ajmilheiro

Riley, my family of 5 are about to make the same move. Curious, how old are the children? I would imagine that would make a difference in the costs. 
Very good info from everyone I might add. 

Armando Milheiro


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## donovan

Riley said:


> Just to clarify, we will be renting a 4 bedroom and I am interested in the PT school system. Although, I have heard about semi-private that costs around 250 Euro per child. Any experience with that? Is it worth it?


I have two although both were born in Portugal both went too a semi private school may daughter was ok till around 14 then she did not do well and went to a normal school and it suited her better, my is fine with it although I feel there should be more activities so we enrolled him is a football club which he loves. 
I have friend who came to Portugal his children were 6 and 8 he just put them into a local school, they learned to speak Portuguese very quickly and have subsequently gone to university, so in the end it depends on you and your children. I hope this helps a little.


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## lindyman77

Riley, my wife and I are from Bakersfield, CA and moved to Portugal 2 years ago. (My wife and our daughter who was born here both hold Portuguese citizenship). 

Let me first say that on a salary of €75K you will live like kings. Serious. That of course comes with conditions. If you're loaded to the hilt in debt (student loans, car loans, credit card debt, etc) then you need to be honest about your _real_ salary. If 15K-25K is outgoing in debt then you don't have 75K in reality. 

Secondly, there are ways to live comfortably here if you choose to live like a Portuguese person. If you want to live like a foreigner (dining in nice restaurants every night, driving a Porshe SUV, hiring a maid, private schooling, gym memberships, etc) then your style might interfere with your desire to live comfortably while also saving up. 

I work in technology and make much less than you've mentioned and we live well. However, we are also debt free and have a unique housing situation. (We're close to Cascais) Like someone said above rent can run you 1000-1500 depending on where you rent (we lived in a housing estate for our first year paying 1000€ a month) and the rent and utilities almost broke us. But like I said, we were living on a smaller monthly paycheck than you mentioned.

I'm sure you have a lot of questions so since you're a native Californian I'll give you a special deal: PM me if you have more questions and I'll do my best to help if I can.


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## CoastalB

I too am about to up-roots (from UK) and move to Portugal next month with the family. Can anyone give me any more details of "semi-private" schools... I've never come across them before.

Thanks.


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## siobhanwf

CoastalB said:


> I too am about to up-roots (from UK) and move to Portugal next month with the family. Can anyone give me any more details of "semi-private" schools... I've never come across them before.
> 
> Thanks.




this might be worthwhile reading

Education in Portugal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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