News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Millennials who buy less are happier. Parent comment

Re:Millennials who buy less are happier by madaxe_again on Thursday February 16, 2023 @05:43PM (#34827631)
No job, no need, and the house is entirely legal, including the septic system and other infrastructure I’ve built, and I have a kid. Also good fucking luck to anyone wanting to get a bulldozer there - it’s on a 45 degree hill slope with no road access. The truck was €4,000, and it’s a hilux. I could set it on fire and it would be fine.

The property taxes are €40 a year for the house, the mill, the ruined medieval village, and the 15ha of land.

My passive income is seven figures, because rather than fritter away on crap, I invested in a diverse range of stuff, from equities to real estate to small businesses/startups. I’m noodling about with a few new ventures of my own as I have time on my hands.

And yes, emigration is useful. I draw an income from expensive economies and moved to a cheap country where quality of life is king.

To be clear, this is the current state - I worked my arse off for 15 years and lived a pretty monkish existence, and now reap the rewards.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Millennials who buy less are happier by pcdoodle on Thursday February 16, 2023 @06:40PM (#34828394)
I like your story a lot. Did you always live in Portugal or move there when you had enough resources?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Millennials who buy less are happier by notch898a on Thursday February 16, 2023 @06:43PM (#34828420)
Portugal shut down the most likely path to his story recently (actually just today), as they decided it created "lack of affordable housing" for their own population. This is another one of those cases of "just be born before the ladders are pulled away and you can do like me."
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Millennials who buy less are happier by madaxe_again on Thursday February 16, 2023 @07:00PM (#34828614)
No, I didn’t do a golden visa - rather, a retirement visa - residency is easy if you have even only a moderate income of €1,200 a month or so or assets. It also handily comes with a ten year exemption on overseas income, which I don’t feel too bad about as I avail myself of no state services beyond those which I do pay for through other taxes, and I’ve made some substantial investments in local businesses.

The golden visa was a much abused scheme largely for absentee landlords who want EU residency, and it has indeed jacked up property prices in the major population centres to an unsustainable degree - many properties have been priced to the visa threshold, and then sit vacant, unrented, often dilapidating. I’m glad to see the back of it, as it gives estrangeiros a bad rap.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Millennials who buy less are happier by pcdoodle on Thursday February 16, 2023 @06:52PM (#34828517)
A good example of seizing the opportunity none the less. In such a dynamic world, I'm sure there's ways to do the same.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Millennials who buy less are happier by notch898a on Thursday February 16, 2023 @05:48PM (#34827688)
You mind if I ask what country? That's a hell of a tax rate for 15ha + residence.

Unfortunately my dumbass country banned the hilux. Always wanted one.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Millennials who buy less are happier by madaxe_again on Thursday February 16, 2023 @06:00PM (#34827876)
Portugal. We actually have two habitation licenses for the property as a whole, as there are two extant habitations there, both ruinous (rebuilding one, the watermill, this year) and there are basically no code requirements for historic structures, and any other structures on the same land under 100m2.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Millennials who buy less are happier by notch898a on Thursday February 16, 2023 @06:07PM (#34827976)
That's awesome.

I considered moving to Portugal someday too. Was sad to find out today they ended their visa program [0]. I suppose one door closes, another will open somewhere else.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-16/portugal-...

[ Parent | on HN ]