# Questions



## allyby79 (Jan 19, 2010)

We are looking at retiring to Portugal but have lots of questions.

We would be on a fixed income and are wondering how much income we should plan on per month.

What are the average rentals for an apartment or house in Portugal. We are thinking of the Silver Coast.

Is it better to ship a car or buy one there?

How is the health care and is it expensive?


Will we be required to pay Portugese taxes?


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## silvers (Sep 22, 2008)

Decent house on the Silver coast... to buy around 200,000 euros, to rent around 500 a month.
To live comfortably, around 1200 a month.
Cars are expensive but shipping one from the States may prove just as expensive.
Taxes, you will have to file a return, paying some depends on how much you earn, or how good your accountant is at hiding funds.
Insurance... Lloyd & Whyte International - Overseas Insurance People


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## shoemanpete (Jan 4, 2010)

Hi allyby79,
Like you we had loads of questions like that last year before coming to the Silver Coast. As you are not EU citizens of course, the answers to your particular question will be different to ours.
Firstly, DON'T sell up if you don't have to, rent here first and keep your options open. Like Silvers said, (and I want to verify that he is a mine of information and help, crawl crawl creep creep!) his estimates are about right.
I have been looking at second hand cars and as an example I looked at cars similar to mine and a small/medium like a Citroen C3 or Opel Astra, 5 yrs old will cost here between 12000-15000 euros. 
Healthcare, can't comment as we get EU rights, but private care is so varied depending on the company you have.
We know friends who have built their own houses, very big houses too, and they said they paid around 265000 euros all in incl land. 
Te best advice I can give you is to register with all the forums here, 3 I know of, and ask the same questions on each one every time and look at all the postings. Its amazing how much info there is and everyone is so helpful.
So, keep asking away and we will keep replying. 
Silvers will no doubt always get there first, I think he has his PC strapped to himself 24/7 ! 

ps....Allyby, Silvers and I know each well, so any ribbing is purely intentional and intended to cause distress.


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## beverleyp (May 26, 2009)

allyby79 said:


> We are looking at retiring to Portugal but have lots of questions.
> 
> We would be on a fixed income and are wondering how much income we should plan on per month.
> 
> ...


Hi - I'm not too sure whether you are in Portugal already or what, but suggest you come over for a period of time to 'test the waters' so to speak as Portugal is still catching up with the modern world. It has made great progress and is nearly there but I think if you are coming from the US there might be a bit of a culture shock. The Silver Coast is mainly agrarian, so the scenery can seem somewhat homogeneous. There's a thriving expat community mainly English but German and Dutch too. The healthcare where we are in Sao Martinho is first-class. I know because I am diabetic so need regular care. Would imagine you would have to take out private care. I wouldn't recommend Sao Martinho as although very pleasant, it is very quiet during the winter and frantic during the summer. Also it suffers from a lingering mist at times. Another thing to look out for is windy locations. Good luck.


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