Here’s What It’s Like to Retire to Portugal
There are things I’ve needed to get used to. But after nearly four years of living in Lisbon, I’m thrilled I made the leap.
4 min
Four years ago, with my adult daughters gone from the nest, it was time for me to fly, too. And even though I had never set foot in Portugal, I decided to retire to Lisbon.
It has paid off spectacularly.
I was a director of marketing and communications at a public university and 55 years old when I retired.
Around that time, there was a lot of publicity about Americans, especially older single women like myself, moving to Portugal.
It remains one of the easiest places in the European Union to gain citizenship after five years of temporary residency (though a proposed law would double that to 10 years and add other requirements for most foreigners).
Portugal checked other boxes for me, too: It’s safe and affordable, a good base for travel, the U.S. is reachable within six hours from the East Coast, and the culture and natural beauty provide a wonderful environment.
The life I have created here has exceeded all of my expectations. I am more active and have deeper friendships than ever before.
The best part is the vast community of friends I have cultivated—mostly Americans, but also some from countries around the world.
They all make living here a lot of fun. Almost daily there is some kind of social event I can join, whether it is visiting museums or attending concerts, going to the beach or hiking.
I started a hiking group two years ago that now has 65 members. We explore historic and natural sights in Lisbon and nearby, including the breathtaking hills nestling the palaces of Sintra.
Changing apartments
Not everything has been smooth sailing. Before arriving, I signed an apartment lease to qualify for a temporary visa.
But after I settled in, it became clear that lots of nice apartments with lower rents were available.
So, after the first year, I moved to Almada, across the Tagus River. The money I saved on rent helped pad my budget for travel.
There was just one problem: Across the river, I felt a bit isolated from my friends.
Now I am closer to central Lisbon in a comfortable one-bedroom second-floor walk-up in a neighborhood with a lot of stores and restaurants.
There is a park where locals gather to listen to music and have a drink or watch their kids play together. I pay the equivalent of about $1,000 in rent and roughly $160 to $215 a month for electricity, water, gas and internet.
And I have a great view of the famed 25th of April Bridge and the towering Christ the King (Cristo Rei) statue that overlooks the city.
Like many apartment dwellers here, I don’t have central air or heating. The climate is comfortable without either, except for a few weeks in January when I use a space heater.
In the summer, I have a portable air-conditioning unit but so far I haven’t had to use it. There is also no dishwasher and no dryer. I use a clothesline on the balcony and a laundromat nearby in case I have an urgent need to dry things.
Delicious fresh fruits, vegetables and fish are all available from my local shopkeepers.
Frequently, I meet friends for lunch or dinner. I love the seafood here. The sea bass and bream are always tasty.
My favourite meal is gambas à guilho: shrimp sautéed in garlic and olive oil. Meals at a typical Portuguese restaurant can cost as little as $12-$15 for soup, an entree, coffee and dessert.
Sometimes I miss having a car, but it’s easy to get around on public transportation. For a little over $46 a month, I have access to every bus, train, tram and ferry within 30 miles.
To go farther within Portugal and Spain there are inexpensive buses and trains. Flights within Europe and to Northern Africa also are affordable, depending on the season.
I have visited Austria, Hungary, Morocco and Jordan, and I’ve visited the U.K, Spain and Italy multiple times in the past four years.
Next year, I will take my three daughters to Turkey for my 60th birthday! I belong to a pet-sitting/home-swap group, so my accommodations are frequently free; I only have to pay to get to the location.
Most of my airfares have ranged between about $110 and $215.
The price of healthcare
Another important thing I had to consider when moving here was healthcare.
Even with a pre-existing condition, I was able to purchase excellent private insurance for about $1,840 a year, and I have had good experiences with the private healthcare system.
A public hospital, however, supplies free medication for my autoimmune disease.
My life here isn’t without its downsides. Rising rents are an issue and have forced a number of friends to move.
I have considered buying an apartment, but ones that I would consider—those requiring no major work—start at well over $380,000, which is more than I want to spend.
Also, apartments here commonly have “paper thin” walls and floors. Everyone has stories about noisy neighbours.
When I moved into my first apartment, I was so worried about making noise that I gave my downstairs neighbours my number to call if I was ever too loud.
They thanked me but said, “Noise is to be expected…don’t worry about it.” In my current apartment building, two out of the five apartments are vacant and I rarely see my neighbours.
The only complaint is noise above my bedroom in the middle of the night. Fortunately lately, that has become less of an issue.
Learning Portuguese has been a bit of a struggle. I have taken classes for more than two years, and technically, I have passed the B1 level course, but speaking in public is frightening to me and therefore locals sometimes still have trouble understanding me.
Thankfully, the Portuguese people are kind and no matter how badly I bomb when trying to speak, they always praise my attempt and encourage me to keep trying.
And when I greet people in my neighbourhood by name and ask about their day, it continues to make my connection here stronger.
I plan to apply for Portuguese citizenship, though I still consider myself an American and always will. Neither Portugal nor the U.S. requires sole citizenship.
I have only been back to the U.S. twice: for my youngest’s college graduation and for my eldest’s wedding.
My daughters have always encouraged me to live the life I want, and they love to tell their friends their mom moved to Portugal.
My youngest has been here once, and the middle daughter, who goes to college in England, has been here twice.
All of my daughters and my son-in-law will be coming to visit me for Christmas this year, and I am ecstatic.
If my daughters lived here with me, I would consider my life here perfect.
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At least for people who carry the APOE4 genetic variant, a juicy steak could keep the brain healthy.
3 min
Must even steak be politicised? The American Heart Association recently recommended eating more “plant-based” protein in a move to counter the Health and Human Services Department’s new guidelines calling for more red meat.
Few would argue that eating a Big Mac a day is good for you.
On the other hand, growing evidence, including a study last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that eating more meat—particularly unprocessed red meat—can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s in the quarter or so of people with a particular genetic predisposition.
The APOE4 gene variant is one of the biggest risk factors for Alzheimer’s.
You inherit one copy of the APOE gene from each parent. The most common variant is APOE3; the least is APOE2.
The latter carries a lower risk of Alzheimer’s, while the former is neutral. A quarter of people carry one copy of the APOE4 variant, and about 2% carry two.
APOE4 is more common among people with Northern European and African ancestry. In Europe the variant increases with latitude, and is present in as many as 27% of people in northern countries versus 4% in southern ones. God smiled on the Italians and Greeks.
For unknown reasons, the APOE4 variant increases the risk of Alzheimer’s far more for women than men.
Women’s risk multiplies roughly fourfold if they have one copy and tenfold if they have two. Men with a single copy show little if any higher risk, while those with two face four times the risk.
What makes APOE4 so pernicious? Scientists don’t know exactly, but the variant is also associated with higher cholesterol levels—even among thin people who eat healthily.
Scientists have found that cholesterol builds up in brain cells of APOE4 carriers, which can disrupt communications between neurons and generate amyloid plaque, an Alzheimer’s hallmark.
The Heart Association’s recommendation to eat less red meat may be sound advice for people with high cholesterol caused by indulgent diets.
But a diet high in red meat may be better for the brains of APOE4 carriers.
In the JAMA study, researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute examined how diet, particularly meat consumption, affects dementia risk among seniors with the different APOE variants.
Higher consumption of meat, especially unprocessed red meat, was associated with significantly lower dementia risk for APOE4 carriers.
APOE4 carriers who consumed the most meat—the equivalent of 4.5 ounces a day—were no more likely to develop dementia than noncarriers. (
The study controlled for other variables that are known to affect Alzheimer’s risk including sex, age, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and education.)
APOE4 carriers who ate the most unprocessed meat were at significantly lower risk of dying over the study’s 15-year period and had lower cholesterol than carriers who ate less. Go figure. Noncarriers, however, didn’tenjoy similar benefits from eating more red meat.
The study’s findings are consistent with two large U.K. studies.
One found that each additional 50 grams of red meat (equivalent to half a hamburger patty) that an APOE4 carrier consumed each day was associated with a 36% reduced risk of dementia.
The other found that older women who carried the APOE4 variant and consumed at least one serving a day of unprocessed red meat had a cognitive advantage over carriers who ate less than half a serving, and that this advantage was of roughly equal magnitude to the cognitive disadvantage observed among APOE4 carriers in general.
In all three studies, eating more red meat appeared to negate the increased genetic risk of APOE4.
Perhaps one reason men with the variant are at lower Alzheimer’s risk than women is that men eat more red meat.
These findings might cause chagrin to women who rag their husbands about ordering the rib-eye instead of the heart-healthy salmon.
But remember, the cognitive benefits of eating more red meat appear isolated to APOE4 carriers.
Nutrition is complicated, and categorical recommendations—other than perhaps to avoid nutritionally devoid foods—would best be avoided by governments and health bodies.
Readers can order an at-home test from any number of companies to screen for the APOE4 variant.
The Swedish researchers hypothesize that APOE4 carriers may be evolutionarily adapted to carnivorous diets, since the variant is believed to have emerged between one million and six million years ago during a “hypercarnivorous” period in human history.
The other two APOE variants originated more recently, during eras when humans ate more plants.
APOE4 carriers may absorb more nutrients from meat than plants, the researchers surmise. Vitamin B12—low levels have been associated with cognitive decline—isn’t naturally present in plant-based foods but is abundant in red meat.
Foods high in phytates (such as grains and beans) can interfere with absorption of zinc and iron (also high in red meat), which naturally declines with age. So maybe don’t chuck your steak yet.
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