Portugal ranked 4th in the “The World’s Best Places to Retire in 2022” in International Living’s 2022 Global Retirement Index based on their global sources’ experiences. Money.co.uk also ranked Portugal the 2nd healthiest country to live in, with Lisbon coming 3rd out of the top 20 healthiest cities in the world, and Porto in 13th position. “Our mortgage experts rank good food, good company and good transport links being great for the people who live there… Our report is based on life expectancy, the cost to be healthy, air pollution, obesity rates, safety and sunlight hours”.

In 2021, Portugal was widely reported to be one of the healthiest and most clean-living places to live. While the baby boom generation or “boomers” (people born roughly between 1946 and 1964) are less picky with their food than millennials who love the rise of the poké bowl, Açai superfood in everything and other fickle trends that have hit Portugal, the older (and wiser) generation have long understood that Portugal offers far more than just fresh produce, the best seafood and healthy living.

Certainly food, but also family and nature have always been important to the Portuguese. Way ahead of the post-Covid trend, they value the authentic and simple life and the nature they are surrounded by. Portugal’s award-winning beaches and natural reserves in and around its capital of Lisbon, make its citizens rather spoiled. Infrastructure, connectivity, an affordable and impressive healthcare system and superb higher education help make life all the easier. Notoriously the world’s 4th safest nation, stability and peace are things the country holds dear and the Portuguese people themselves are quiet, considerate, and respectful towards elders.

Last week, US News & World Report ranked Comporta in Portugal as the overall best place for overseas retirement. Americans, along with the British, were among the fastest growing demographic to buy homes in Portugal in 2020 and 2021. Pandemic-induced, and an escape from domestic politics or towards more favorable taxation, Portugal’s popularity soared and witnessed a new wave of thousands of Americans, dubbing Portugal as the “California of Europe”, without the high housing prices for now.

Real estate giant JLL Portugal published their snapshot of 2021 highlighting the senior citizen market as one of the main alternative real estate markets showing growing attractiveness as Portugal joins the Premiere League of the European portfolio, with some 100,000 existing units, 17,000 in the pipeline and an expected shortage of 17,000 by 2025 given the country’s rising popularity across the European continent in part due to tax breaks, as well as the continent struggling with one of oldest median ages in the world alongside Japan, all looking to find their home away from home.

US retirees may have more purchasing power than most, however. According to a New York Times article, boomers surpassed the Silent Generation in real estate wealth in 2001, and have yet to yield that position, owning a total of 44% of real estate wealth in the US according to statistics from the Federal Reserve.

Historically, wealthy retired US citizens are no strangers to the quality of the air in Portugal and would retire or spend seasons on the ‘linha’ off the coast of Lisbon, specifically around Parede’s condos overlooking the Atlantic Ocean for the natural thalassotherapy offering that was essentially for free.

Vintage sports cars that once raced (and now swan) down the beautiful coastal road from Lisbon to Cascais where royals would holiday and spies would congregate at the height of the Cold War, were part of the attraction. The Portuguese and foreign retirees that choose this particular part of the world for relocation certainly know how to live.

Tracey Martin, Head of Governance at EQTY CAPITAL confirms that “Besides the obvious combination of lifestyle, culture, history and safety, Portugal boasts a world class health system, a moderate climate and spectacular landscapes and nature. All these factors make Portugal an obvious choice for senior living and retirement.”