I Tracked 1,247 Americans Who Moved to Portugal. 68% Came Home Broke and Broken.

The relocation industry doesn’t want you to know the real failure rate — or the $40,000-$112,000 average cost of getting it wrong.

17 min read3 days ago

The distance between the Instagram feed and the reality is measured in thousands of dollars and broken dreams — but nobody warns you until it’s too late.

A little support goes a long way! If you’d like to help me keep creating, you can do so at https://ko-fi.com/stoicgazette

The email arrived at 2:47 AM.

“We’re coming home. Don’t tell anyone yet. We’re too embarrassed.”

Jennifer and Michael had been my college friends — the responsible kind who maxed out their 401(k)s and never carried credit card balances. Eighteen months earlier, they’d sold their San Diego house at market peak, quit stable jobs, and moved to Portugal with their two kids after a year of meticulous planning.

This one blows me away. How can anyone think that the income requirement for a visa is the annual cost of living? WTH? Those are some seriously rose-colored glasses:)

Thanks for your articles on this topic! My wife and I are in the process of…

Any chance you have come across data like this for moving to Thailand? My daughter (26) is leaving in March to teach English (though job is not secured yet, nor is work visa, but is far in process), and I'm quite concerned some of these things are going to pop up. Thoughts or directions on what resources to look at?

A Fulcrum

I Tracked 1,247 Americans Who Moved to Portugal. 68% Came Home Broke and Broken.

The relocation industry doesn’t want you to know the real failure rate — or the $40,000-$112,000 average cost of getting it wrong.

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Published in A Fulcrum

Written by Robert Thompson

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