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Author Topic: My retirement blog.  (Read 420271 times)

erwintwr

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #180 on: May 19, 2016, 06:54:32 pm »
must be such a pain to stay in a country that does the  following to your electricity supply  :'(

Portugal Just Powered Itself Exclusively on Renewable Energy for Four Whole Days


http://gizmodo.com/portugal-just-powered-itself-exclusively-on-renewable-e-1777511231?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #181 on: May 19, 2016, 08:03:59 pm »
There seems to be a competition on as to which country can produce 100% power with renewable energy only.
Denmark wins with 140%. Germany managed a day. Portugal did it over 4 days.
In a few years time, the whole of Europe will be on free of nuclear and coal power stations.

This while SA is building coal powered ones for the Gupta's and planning nuclear ones for Putin.
« Last Edit: May 19, 2016, 08:38:32 pm by Orca »
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #182 on: May 20, 2016, 06:39:55 pm »
Money. Money-wise, we still doing fine and despite the exchange rate, we average about R9 500.00 pm in living expenses. This is all inclusive except that we chose to pay our medical insurance yearly so you might add another R1 050.00 odd to that.
having retired 3 years ago plus the expense of relocating and setting up a home here, my investments have grown by about R211K and I have being making 3 monthly withdrawals for our living costs.

Travels. We have 4 train services here.
International. Leaves about every 3 to 4 hours from the main cities. Not used them yet.
Inter City. About every 2 hours and very comfy with aircons and travels at 200 km ph so not a bad means of transport. Only Portugal cities.
Regional. Each province has their own and the train stops at every town. About every 2 hours.
Metro. Only in the cities and are very frequent.
We also have bus services that do all of the above as well.

I did mention that we took a trip to northern Spain as it is only 60 km north of us. A scenic trip as it is all along the coast and the beaches and forests are stunning as are the small picturesque vegetable farms in their lush greenery.
The trip to the UK was a great experience. I would recommend the Cotswold (The Garden of UK) as a must see. The ancient villages are much like kids picture book fairy tale drawings.
You could actually see the trout swimming in the crystal clear streams.
I was surprised to see that in every town center they had stands with defibrillators in them behind a glass door and none had been stolen yet. The old fogies love to retire in the Cotswold hence the defibs.
Prices in the UK are about 3 to 4 times higher than Portugal so I will not be back soon.

Took a train to Faro in the Algarve in the south of Portugal but this will be later.





 

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Mr_Dividend

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #183 on: May 21, 2016, 12:04:00 am »
cheers for the update - glad to hear everything is going well. I think leaving SA was the wise decision - SA's great, until something big happens. Personally, even if Zuma goes, nothing will change in this country - not with the militant labour force, a mindset that does not value education and a population that feels it is owed everything from the state.

Have you tried to learn Portuguese? Was talking to a Portuguese person the other day and was interested to hear that she could communicate with Spanish speakers quite easily - always thought they were very different languages.
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #184 on: May 21, 2016, 04:21:02 pm »
Portuguese and Spanish do have some common words but they have intermingled over the years and learned each other's languages.
Strangely, the Portuguese have some difficulty understanding Brazilian Portuguese. Much like the Dutch trying to understand Afrikaans.
I started using Google Translate to learn some Portuguese and after a year some guy told me that I am wasting my time as it is Brazilian Portuguese so I then downloaded the app from the Play Store.
This even had the Portuguese flag on it. After a few months I was told that it was also Brazilian Portuguese.  :wall:
« Last Edit: May 21, 2016, 04:25:31 pm by Orca »
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Patrick

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #185 on: May 23, 2016, 08:13:07 am »
Wow, spending around R10k for a couple is very impressive. Are those fairly normal living costs for a couple in Portugal? I do have two Portuguese friends, one a doctor, and the other in banking. The doctor earns just 1200 euro a month, and the banking guy, who claims his salary is really good for Portugal is on 1600 euro, and apparently they live very well in Lisbon.

I can't remember if you mentioned which city/town you're in?
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #186 on: May 23, 2016, 03:27:32 pm »
That R10k pm includes our rent of R6k. If need be, we can cut out wine, beer and eating out and save about R2k.
From August all residents of Portugal and this includes immigrants will get free medical so we would not need private insurance any longer.
Lisbon is the most expensive city here and the Algarve is not far off.
For this reason, we chose to live up in the north in Viana do Castelo as it is the cheapest area.
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Moneypenny

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #187 on: May 23, 2016, 03:51:59 pm »
Quote from: Orca on May 23, 2016, 03:27:32 pm
If need be, we can cut out wine, beer and eating out and save about R2k.

No, never-ever do that, life is meant for living. 

Yes, I can hear Patrick rolling his eyes :D but he is wrong - just go for it.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2016, 05:25:54 pm by Moneypenny »
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Patrick

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #188 on: May 23, 2016, 04:46:33 pm »
Quote from: Moneypenny on May 23, 2016, 03:51:59 pm
Quote from: Orca on May 23, 2016, 03:27:32 pm
If need be, we can cut out wine, beer and eating out and save about R2k.

No, never-ever do that, life is meant for living. 

Yes, I can hear Patrick rolling this eyes :D but he is wrong - just go for it.

Haha, how about getting a bicycle and saving on train tickets instead. They also run on beer, so you can consider the odd drink as refueling :)
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #189 on: May 30, 2016, 10:16:14 pm »
I am very impressed with the hospital here after I had a medical problem. I had an acute pain in my shoulder and it radiated to my arm. This is a sign of heart failure that I was aware of and thought my days were numbered.
They immediately sent me for a barrage of tests. Ultrasound, x-rays. blood tests, etc on the most up to date scientific equipment available to date.
The very same day I was told that I have a pinched nerve in my neck and it will regrow.

The medication has eased the pain so far but I wonder what would have been the case in SA.
Get put on a gurney and left in the passage as I had been in the past? Then forgotten about.

I am not dissing SA but just stating that Portugal is by no means a backward country as most people think. I was very impressed at the professionalism.
 
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jaDEB

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #190 on: May 31, 2016, 07:14:52 am »
It is not raining here  ;D.

Had the same sh%t years ago, one arm went numb, one side of face went numb. The doctor's receptionist rushed me to hospital, spend 3 days there, they put me on some awesome little happy pills. Was stress  :wall:.
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Mr_Dividend

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #191 on: May 31, 2016, 08:51:45 am »
and you still buying mining shares JaDeb!  :D

Good to hear it was not too serious Orca. Was that on the private insurance? or government? As I am getting older I am becoming acutely aware that my body will now need to be patched up from time to time.
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #192 on: May 31, 2016, 11:07:52 am »
Stopped raining today at last. :TU:

I had a similar problem jaDEB. My calf and foot went lame and I could not walk but it was a pinched nerve in my lower back. That is when I was left on the gurney in the passage the whole f**ing night.

Mr_D...I do have medical insurance so I went to the private hospital across the road from me. Have to go back today for physio. 
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erwintwr

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #193 on: May 31, 2016, 02:11:13 pm »
Quote from: Orca on May 31, 2016, 11:07:52 am
Stopped raining today at last. :TU:

I had a similar problem jaDEB. My calf and foot went lame and I could not walk but it was a pinched nerve in my lower back. That is when I was left on the gurney in the passage the whole f**ing night.

Mr_D...I do have medical insurance so I went to the private hospital across the road from me. Have to go back today for physio.

Glad it was nothing too serious (maybe the beer versus Bicycle recommendation by Patrick isnt that bad)

Just to confirm, you mentioned your medical adds R1050 to your monthly bill?  for two 60? year young people that is extremely cheap compared with our local ripoff's (discovery i'm pointing at you!)
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Orca

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Re: My retirement blog.
« Reply #194 on: May 31, 2016, 02:26:25 pm »
R1 050 for both of us pm and it covers us for R540K pa. No dental though.
I was quoted about R3 500 pm for a similar medical insurance in SA.
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