Transcription
Hi, my name is James Rox. I'm originally from the UK. I've been living in Florinopoulos, Brazil for the last 10 years. Uh, over the last three and a bit years, I've been working in real estate and primarily helping internationals, uh, invest here in Brazil or relocate here to Brazil. And every so often I am asked by people, is Brazil the right place for me to live or the right place for you to live in reality? And in this video, I want to address that. I want to address, is in the year of 2026, is Brazil the right place for you to move? So, what we're going to do is we're going to look at some of the pros and also some of the challenges of relocating to Brazil, starting life in Brazil, and also look at the type of person that thrives here as well.
So, let's start with the positives. And to be fair, there are quite a few. There's some great incentives for why you would want to live in Brazil. Uh, one of those being lifestyle. Uh, Brazil, uh, offers a slower pace of life compared to the manic nature of someone like the UK or or US, where your life just seems to evolve around work and nothing else. Outdoor living as well. You know, uh, so much contact with nature here, particularly in coastal cities, somewhere like Florinopoulos, you you have you have the hills, you have places for trails, to go out biking, places to walk on the beach. Climate is actually very favorable as well. It's very pleasant place to be most of the year round. Um, and also there's a real sense of community which certainly, someone like the UK, that seems that it's really deteriorated. Some society has become more and more fragmented. Whereas in Brazil, people find it very easy to to find new friendships, to feel part of of a community. Brazilians are very receptive by their nature, and a lot of people when they come here, they feel very much at home in Brazil.
Uh, another big factor is the cost of living, the value of things here. Your money goes so much further. Whether that's, uh, eating out, whether that's, uh, rent or even buying property, you get so much more bang for your buck. Now, everywhere around the world, there's been masses of inflation. Um, and of course prices have increased here. But when you compare the cost of living here to the US, Europe, it's so much more advantageous, especially for people who work remotely and earn in, let's say, dollars or euros or or pounds, their money goes much further here than it would, uh, in their country of origin, let's say.
Uh, investment potential as well. Places such as Florinopoulos, Balnario, Cambodu, Paperma, Portoello, uh, they're all seeing growth, really good and sustainable growth, not just from Brazilians, but there's a very strong internal market driving that growth. There's a lot of demand from within Brazil, but now increasingly as well, international buyers arriving to the party and getting in. And it's still a good time to get in. There's still more to come. Uh, another thing here is climate nature beauty. Touch a little, but this the surroundings here are absolutely stunning. Uh, I can't think of a much more, uh, stunning place to be in terms of, um, you know, great places for for walks, being able to go to the beach, um, all of those things.
And another thing is as well, uh, it really seems at the moment that the west is struggling. It's struggling for a number of reasons whether that would be inflation, um, the huge surge particularly in Europe of, uh, illegal immigration, the tensions that's generating as well. Um, also, a lot of feedback I get from clients in Europe is concerned concerned even about war with the situation in Russia and Ukraine. There's a lot of tension at the moment in Europe, in the UK. Uh, people often feel actually that their governments are just gaslighting them as well and feel very dissatisfied people on different ends of the political spectrum. And in one sense it kind of feels like the west is on the decline, but here is on the rise.
What, of course, Brazil isn't for everybody. There are some cons to to living here as well. One being bureaucracy. In certain processes in Brazil, there could be a lot of bureaucracy and you can feel like you get the runaround. Sometimes it's really good to have people who can help navigate that for you. Um, I think it's got a lot better than when I first lived here. I remember going to Ledica's, uh, lottery houses where to pay bills and, um, you know, uh, facing cues, etc., and that seems to have gotten better now. There's a lot more you can do digitally, systems seem to work better, but still some process can be bureaucratic, frustrating, and often you can need help to, uh, navigate those processes so it's done more more smoothly as well.
Uh, we like things like coming from the west, we we like things to be very immediate, to be very efficient, and for me some of the things that frustrated me is when systems weren't working that well, or even things like just being in a supermarket and people are just very slow and just leave the checkout person to put everything through and then that same checkout person to pack bags. And, uh, some of the way things are done or people go about things can, uh, for those of us who are used to a faster pace, it can generate some frustration. Maybe that says more about us than it does here and more about our own lack of patience at times. But things work differently here. Things can work on a different at a different pace. So, it's something to be aware of.
Another factor as well is the language barrier. Brazil isn't a great country in terms of English proficiency. Now, you will find, uh, English speakers, of course, but it may not be to the level that you would always expect. So, you really have to be prepared as an international to to learn Portuguese to get by. Uh, my language advice to people is always, if you chuck enough mother of war, some of it will stick. So, if you put in the work and you put yourself out there, um, and are willing to to make mistakes, um, and and put in the work, um, it will it will pay off and I it makes living here in Brazil so much more worthwhile when you acquire good level of Portuguese. Now, you can get by without Portuguese, but I think at times you will find yourself in situations where you'll be very frustrated.
Uh, there are also some cultural adjustments as well. Um, in one sense, the cultures feel similar, but at some, but there are some subtle things that that are that that are different. Uh, Latinos tend to wear their heart on their sleeve a lot more than westerners do. Uh, some things can be very subtle and misread. Sometimes, um, our directness as well, um, can can come across as being offensive. And sometimes, uh, Brazilians have a tendency not to say no when they really mean no. Uh, there was almost like they're too polite to say no. There's almost like this non-committal yes at times which really means thanks but no thanks. Uh, so there are just little subtle things, uh, you become aware of and have to adjust to as well.
The next one I don't know if it's a con or a misconception that people have about Brazil, but it's safety. Now, that's always a difficult one when people ask, is Brazil safe? Well, it's quite a relative question. Um, in places in Brazil, it can be very dangerous, but you have to remember that Brazil is a huge country. There are many Brazils inside Brazil and the state of Santa Katarina where I live is the safest state in Brazil. Um, our big cities here, which are not huge cities by the way, are, you know, bigger city would be Johnny Villi, which I think is under a million if I'm not mistaken. Florinopoulos, the population is is half a million mostly year round. Um, our cities are amongst the safest in Brazil. Florinopoulos is the safest state capital in Brazil. So, even compared to cities in Europe, let's say, here is safe.
So, who is moving to Brazil really for? Well, it's for those who are looking for quality of life and community, things that Brazil offer in abundance. Um, you don't need to have luxury. You know, if you have the means to support yourself, you can have a very good standard of life here in Brazil.
That brings me on to my next point as well, that those who tend to thrive here are people who are entrepreneurial or digital nomads. Uh, Brazil is a developing country. There are good opportunities for implementing new business ideas here in the country. Actually, there are incentives as well if you want to invest in a business even to get residency here through setting up a new company, particularly when that relates to employing people, generating jobs here. Um, and as I say, there can be some good returns made here in Brazil through starting a company, finding the right niche, but you really need to study those niches and be sure of the local market, the local context. Digital nomads tend to thrive as well, earning an income from outside of Brazil, able to sustain themselves and enjoying a really good quality of life.
Uh, retirees as well. There are many incentives, actually, for retirees to come to Brazil. There's a retiree visa as well. So, if you're drawing a pension that's in excess of $2,000 a month, you can get a retiree visa, um, for Brazil and it's a really pleasant pleasant place to be. Um, there's good health care at a very reasonable price compared to e everywhere, compared to the US, I guess is is is reasonable in terms of health care prices. Uh, but really good care, really good physicians here. Um, a really pleasant climate and increasingly this is becoming an attractive place for for people who are planning their retirement. There's some very nice communities, uh, you know, some very nice, uh, developments, new neighborhoods springing up, um, and and Brazil's really starting to look at that question now as well of, um, senior living as well.
Another group as well are investors, people who recognize just how undervalued Brazil is at this moment, that there's still a lot more growth, that it's increasingly becoming on people's radar. So, Brazil is a very good place to get in to invest in real estate and other areas as well. The future is bright for Brazil, let's say.
So, going back to my original question, is moving to Brazil right for you in 2026? Well, if you identify with the type of person who I've described who would thrive here in Brazil, then I really want to encourage you to think about your options and seriously explore Brazil as, um, either as a a full-time base or or a place you're going to spend part of your year or even a place where you may see yourself retiring or even securing for yourself a residency as a B plan, because You never know, uh, what's going to happen in this crazy world. Um, and one thing is geographically Brazil is far removed from many other places in the world. Maybe that's seen as a con as well, but it's actually not that far away in the grand scheme of things. Um, one of the things we can do is if you'd like to explore this question more, is that you can reach out to us at Rox Investments and we we'd love to give you a free consultancy. Um, talk about your options, the possibilities, what could be finance, what that process of moving in Brazil looks like, documentation, all those kind of things. And maybe we can help you think through that question for yourself as well and give you more clarity. So, if that's you, please do get in touch.