Antonio Evans Staff asked 6 years ago Antonio Evans Staff answered 6 years ago I am under NHR and use PT as homebase. Great access to Europe. Taxes easy as heck to do. Language not a issue. Also weather great for Europe all year round. Prices are rising quickly but between Spain or Portugual, PT it's a better match for my style of life.
I would agree that it is a time warp from say Madrid but I think that's good for a Digital Nomad. I am from NYC, always newest gadgets, hottest bars, celebs, etc. After 35 years gets boring. Portugal (Lisboa) specifically is slower pace, easier to connect with people but with lots of little flaws. It's like Marseilles without crime or Budapest without the grandeur of the Austria-Hungary empire.
For last 2-years it's been a city at the scale I really enjoy.
Financials with the NHR can be broken own to:
- Tax on Capital Gains
- No tax on foreign income
- No tax on foreign property
If you live here for 183-day in a given year you file with the AT. You can just do it on there website or get an accountant.
Healthcare is €15 to see my GP, €40 for emergency room, and monthly about €80 for €500k coverage
Rent is 1/8 of what it was living on Central Park West in an apartment same size (100sq meters) off of Eduardo VII
Car is €100 a month + €15 insurance
1 gb Fiber Internet+TV+3 cellphones = €90
Beer = €.80
Wine = €5-€15 per bottle
Handyman = €15 an hour
Maid (cooks, cleans and walks my dog) = 5-days a week €125
Fancy restuarant = €20 per person with wine+dessert
Typical restaurant = €10 per person with wine or beer
Cheap restaurant = €5 per person for a sandwich, snack, with coffee
Movie tickets= €6
Theater or Events €20-€40
Small Theater €10
Co-working - €15
...and the big thing for me. Very little crime. I lost my wallet with money in it near El Corte Ingles while walking dog. Hand a person ping me on Facebook saying they found it. They wouldn't take reward but I gave them a bottle of wine as a thank you.
I try not to sell PT much on DC because lots of digital nomads kind of live in the bubble of tech. They only hang with their own. For me the locals are great, just get your A2 level language and you can communicate with everyone (even though all people under 40 speak English which you won't find in Spain luckily I speak Spanish).
As for the comment above on the young people leaving. Yes, average wages for tech people are €1k - €2k and that's being liberal. The retirees who have come to places like Faro (Algarve) are British Retirees. Many never learn Portuguese and just stick to their retirement villiages. I have British friends who have lived here and 30-years don't speak a word of Portuguese other then "Obrigado".
On the other end are the French who have rebuilt much of Lisboa and OPorto. They are the biggest influx and have revitalized lots of the housing driving up prices either by doing short term rentals or just fixing the apartments and flipping them. It's a catch-22, better quality city higher prices. The locals aren't happy with the price but are happy that not every 3rd building is in shambles. The french expats don't mix with non-french much.. I speak enough french so I am kind of an honorary person in their "circle". They came here for the taxes benefits.
Locals are still hurting from the years under the dictatorship which ended in the 70's and the economical downturn of the Great Recession of 2008. But as an foreigner coming here you won't be touched by it. You probably would be on wave of the new tech hub of Europe.
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