Expert: Sandra - 6/13/2009

Question
Hi Sandra, I'm Brazilian from origin and have been in America for 47 years. Although I have been visiting Brazil often, I travel there with both passport, (Brazil and USA)
I am 70 years old and have 1.500.00 pension in USA. I am still working part time. I would like to live in Brazil in a small city with a reasonable infra-structure, hospital, church etc, traffic that still allows me to drive and be independent. I want to finish writing a book, therefore I am only looking for peace and quiet. I would like to rent a small place initially, then buy there my own house.
Please advice, Thanks.

Answer
It’s very heartwarming that you seem to be pursuing a dream of returning to your roots for your retirement years. Since you hold a Brazilian passport, you have no restrictions on the minimum pension required to get a retirement visa. But without knowing you well, it’s also very hard to advise you about locations in which you might like to settle. It is such a deeply personal decision. You haven’t indicated whether you prefer the beach or the mountains, or if you want cooler winters or all-year-round warm weather, or how important cultural activities are to you, for example. You yourself must have some ideas, since you indicate that you have travelled in Brazil. If not, I would encourage you to do more travelling until you discover a couple of places that strongly appeal to you. Then you could ask some pointed questions about life (costs, culture, etc) in that town/city on the forum of the expat site www.gringoes.com, where there is likely to be someone living in that very place. However, off the top of my head, I might suggest you look into Joao Pessoa, Curitiba or even Petropolis, all of which may fit your stated requirements. Best wishes for a happy future in Brazil.