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Author Topic: My retirement blog.  (Read 420276 times)

gcr

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #135 on: June 18, 2015, 11:25:07 am »
I posted on Warrens article that there is another attribute displayed by wanton early retirees (like me) and that is planning before and after retirement and also taking up a hobby
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #136 on: June 18, 2015, 11:47:12 am »
I read that article on Moneyweb earlier and I got the impression that Warren was talking about me and wifie.
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #137 on: June 18, 2015, 12:17:09 pm »
Quote from: Mr_Dividend on June 15, 2015, 03:23:32 pm
Last night was browsing this website - surprised to see quite a bit in my price range - 50 -100k Euro's. Space for a veggie garden.

http://www.pureportugal.co.uk/

The most popular site for buying or renting is www.custojusto.pt
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #138 on: June 18, 2015, 11:11:09 pm »
Just an interesting development that the UK might be gearing up to exit the EU.

Last year, they started deporting foreigners that were not contributing to the economy. The foreign workers have to spend their earning and holidays within the UK and not send their money to family outside the UK.

This has not been publicised but 2 of my daughters co workers from Rumania and Czechoslovakia  were deported by the Immigration Surveillance  Dept, for sending most of their earnings home and not making UK as their "home".
« Last Edit: July 31, 2015, 06:06:47 pm by Orca »
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #139 on: June 21, 2015, 10:02:25 pm »
A heat wave in Portugal with no wind and temperatures of 36 c has kept us inside for days. Although we are in the cooler north, it is unbearable. I pity the people in the Algarve down south as it is even hotter by at least 5 degrees.
The streets are empty of people and I have never heard ambulance sirens as much as now. Perhaps the old folks having health probs due to the heat.
I have even become accustomed to the men across the road in their apartments walking about in their jocks and the women in teenie underwear.
Electricity here is just too expensive for air-conditioning.
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #140 on: June 23, 2015, 12:08:28 am »
A mere 2 hours of posting my previous post on how hot it was, a thick mist or fog bank just "poured" in and dropped the temperature to 19C. Sadly, we all had to put our clothes back on again.
Today the maximum temp has been 21C and will continue for some days.
 
 
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Patrick

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #141 on: June 23, 2015, 07:48:46 am »
You should post some pictures, I'd love to see the place.

Any more thoughts as to where you'll head after your lease is up?
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #142 on: June 23, 2015, 04:18:30 pm »
Quote from: Patrick on June 23, 2015, 07:48:46 am
You should post some pictures, I'd love to see the place.

Any more thoughts as to where you'll head after your lease is up?

Hard to believe that we have been here for a year already. Our lease expires next June and I have 3 places on my radar.
1. Prague.
Quaint old city center and very popular tourist destination. English is widely spoken and cost of living is even cheaper than Portugal.
Cons. Tax and cold winters.

2. Porto
Only 65km south of us and is the 2'nd largest city in Portugal. Home of the Port wine.

3. Ponta Delgada 
On the island of St Michael in the Azores 1 670 km off the coast of Lisbon. Also called the "Green Island" due to the lush vegetation. The climate is ideal for me as I hate the heat on the mainland in summer. Temperatures stay between 18 and 25 winter and summer.
Cons. No public transport outside of the city.
   
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #143 on: June 23, 2015, 04:21:26 pm »
Here is a pic of Ponta Delgada.
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JDP

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #144 on: June 23, 2015, 04:29:28 pm »
One thing about Prague, was there last year for 4 days or so. English is widely spoken, but only under the younger generation, lets say up to 35. Alot of the older
people, especially in the suburbs, don't understand a word.

Two examples from me was a bus driver and a old lady running a dry cleaning business. Needless to say to my laundry somewhere else,
and as far as the bus, had no choice, but I prayed all the way that I did not end up in some slum, luckily i did not. :))

PS, wow Ponta Delgada is beautiful, any thoughts about Croatia, was there as well, beautiful country.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2015, 04:31:10 pm by JDP »
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #145 on: June 23, 2015, 05:16:26 pm »
My kids have travelled extensively throughout Europe and they were so impressed with Prague that they are going back there soon. They stayed in the old city center on the square. The tourist hub.
There are so many pretty places in Europe but most are just too expensive.
I did look at Croatia but for some reason i scratched it off my list. I also need to be in a city as I don't have the confidence yet to drive on the wrong side of the road.
Here is a pic of Porto looking over the river at the old city centre with the Port wine distillers behind my back.
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JDP

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #146 on: June 23, 2015, 06:07:29 pm »
Wow love this one too. I put both of them on my to visit list for someday when I do tour of Spain/Portugal, Ill most likely will need a lot of SD cards,
because it looks like a photographic heaven. :TU:

Yip in that case I can understand about Croatia, only really big city is Zagreb, and that's not where I would like to live, I much more prefer the coast.
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #147 on: July 31, 2015, 07:35:14 pm »
Just an update on money matters here in PT.
I think I mentioned that my application for "Non Habitual Residency" was accepted by the IRS here. This was confirmed by my tax returns that I got last Friday. It shows a nil return and will continue as nil for 10 years. Unless of course if I "trade" my SA stocks before the 1 year holding requirement for CGT as that will attract a flat 20% tax rate here.

I must add that I am a member of a local expat forum here and I urged people to apply for that 10 year tax exemption and got laughed at by some members saying that it is only for the rich and property owners. They are now kicking their butts as they missed their deadline and now cannot apply.  :LHST:

My wife is still diligently keeping book of our spending each month and I was pleasantly surprised at our living costs.
We are not on a budget at all and buy what we want and when we want without hesitation. For the past 2 months we have averaged just over R10k pm  and we still have enough essential items like beer, wine and food to carry us a week into next month.
This includes R1k for private medical insurance.
R5k for rent.
R600 for water, gas and electricity.
R400 for unlimited internet. (TV)
We still do not have a car as public transport here is excellent enough for us at this stage.

I can only attribute this drop from R12k to R10k to the fact that we can now read labels and not buy wrong stuff over and over. We know where to buy certain things cheaper and have completed our touristy stuff.

So living on R10k pm tax free in Portugal is quite doable. My next post will be on the legal constraints of emigration to the UK for South African couples where one partner is a holder of a Brit passport. This is relatively simple for the EU but differs for the UK.

 
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #148 on: July 31, 2015, 10:57:08 pm »
Emigration to the UK from outside the EU is impossible unless you have £1m to invest and have at least a Tier2 qualification. Even if 1 of the married couple has a Brit citizenship, it will be impossible.
A case in point:
A British housewife married to an Argentinian Doctor arrived in London from Argentina with the intent to stay. She as a Brit had to sponsor her husband but as she was a housewife, she had no funds to do so. He as a doctor with money did not matter so he was deported back to Argentina.
Their only option was this;
You may be able to apply for an EEA family permit as a family member of a British citizen who has worked in another EEA country.
This is known as the ‘Surinder Singh’ route.

You must also be able to show that the British citizen genuinely lived (based their ‘centre of life’) in the EEA country in which
you were both resident for at least 3 months before returning to the UK.

So the best way is to emigrate to an EU country such as Ireland first and then enter the UK using the EU Treaty "freedom of movement" treaty rules. This bypasses UK immigration rules.

SA citizens do not need a visa to enter Ireland.
 
« Last Edit: July 31, 2015, 11:09:59 pm by Orca »
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Mr_Dividend

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #149 on: August 01, 2015, 10:57:41 am »
Wow - seriously??

I am a brit citizen and thought it would be easy to go live in the UK. I wonder if it would it help that we got married in the UK? It's always been my "if the kak his the fan" plan.

Might be a good thing though - would prefer to try Portugal or Spain first.
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