MOVING TO PORTUGAL TO MAKE A LIVING -HOW HARD WILL IT BE ?

[gdtmotors]

HI ALL,
i , my wife and daughter are thinking of moving to the area , but i was wondering how hard it will be to make a living out there ?

obviously loads of people seem to retire out there and love it,
but thats so different than having to find opportunities, deal with the red tape and low wages.
(and high taxes ?)

is anyone working in the algarve or in business and hows it working out ?

is it as hard as i think its going to be ?
i guess if i wanted to be rich id stay in the uk , right ?

any advice from peopl actually living there would be much appreciated

[tbbr]

When we make the move we have accepted that our income will be very much reduced and any work we do will be of a very different type to our current UK careers.
OK we will be in that age group with some investments and access to an early pension if needed.
We already have some experience of local beaucracy and have come to accept that it is part of life in Portugal.

As to high taxation in Portugal I assume ADT must be living in the channel islands or the isle of man rather than in our wonderfull low tax society here in BLAIR/BROWN UK.


Latest TAX , demand from easy jet for an additional payment for flights already paid for to meet the NEW TAX on air travel.

[laserblazer]

Latest TAX , demand from easy jet for an additional payment for flights already paid for to meet the NEW TAX on air travel.

I paid mine happily. Anything that is going towards helping to reduce carbon emissions, however small, is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, the extra revenue will be used wisely.

Back to the point. GDT, you are doing the right thing asking the questions and my advice would to be to ask lots more. There doesn't appear to be a glut of run of the mill job opportunities in the Algarve. Wages are typically lower than the UK and jobs seasonal. Are you a motor mechanic? There might be some mileage in servicing ex-pats vehicles if you are.

[Bruce Wallis]

I made some enqiries locally and came to the conclusion that "proper jobs" are virtually non existant, and moving and expecting to make a living as an immigrant would be difficult unless you are in, maybe Real Estate, and get a job with a company specialising in UK clients. But the competition would be fierce.
There might be seasonal work with holiday companies, and there are English builders making quite a good living
You could go the bar or restaurant route, but that demands capital, experience and local knowledge....and a working knowledge of Portuguese.

I would love to make the sort of jump you plan, and in fact am thinking of doing freelance work, living in CVO, and flying back to the UK for blocks of work....it may well happen!

Good luck.

[tbbr]

Hres a thought about reducing the fastest cause in the rise in carbon emmisions , That is the run away economies in India and China where none if any thought is given to the effect on the environment.

Put a hefty inport tax on all goods from these countries unless the manufacturer could prove that steps were being taken to not only reduce pollution but also provide safe healthy working conditions at fair wages.

For anyone to think that the air tax will have any effect on air travel is naive in the extreme.

Its yet another TAX on what is becomming one of the highest taxed societies in Europe.

[laserblazer]

You are missing the point. We ALL have to be seen to be doing something. Are the emerging economies going to pay any heed at all whilst the West is blaming it all on them and doing nothing themselves. The problem is that we are burying our heads in the sand. The potential effects of global warming will destroy the human race. I'm sure the planet will survive but we won't. That's out grandchildren and great-grandchildren's lives we are talking about. We have to do our bit. Regardless of how effective it is, paying a carbon surcharge for flights is a step in the right direction.

I'm not going to get into a prolonged discussion over this. If you can't see my point then that's your perogative.

[tbbr]

I agree 100% about all of us doing our bit, re cycling where we can, buying wine with cork NOT plastic stoppers ( not just green but beneficial to Portugal as well ), using public transport ( if you can ). NOT buying imported out of season foodstuffs ( flown in at great expense )

BUT Just how many people are there out there who will fly less because of this TAX.

Air tax will NOT put up inflation a carbon tax on imports and flown in foodstuffs would.

That would upset Gordon Brown and the big stores like Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys.
We would buy less and they would not make such huge profits.

[Misty]

I made some enqiries locally and came to the conclusion that "proper jobs" are virtually non existant, and moving and expecting to make a living as an immigrant would be difficult unless you are in, maybe Real Estate, and get a job with a company specialising in UK clients. But the competition would be fierce.
There might be seasonal work with holiday companies, and there are English builders making quite a good living
You could go the bar or restaurant route, but that demands capital, experience and local knowledge....and a working knowledge of Portuguese.

I would love to make the sort of jump you plan, and in fact am thinking of doing freelance work, living in CVO, and flying back to the UK for blocks of work....it may well happen!

Good luck.

There are actually quite a lot of 'proper jobs' in the Algarve, but of course to be able to apply for one of these then you must be able to speak Portuguese and accept that the average wages for these types of jobs are less than in the UK.