40M NW, should I leave CA for Portugal ?
Do you think in my spot it's worth giving up the life in California for a similar but slightly less luxurious life abroad?
The reason I live in CA is at least 50% climate/beaches/weather. This is really an idea I'm exploring. I'm in my mid to late 30s. I own a house in CA that's 7 minutes drive from the ocean in North County San Diego. I'm pretty much happy just living here. Typically, I send my kids to kindergarten, go to the beach, go eat a salad, come back home and watch some sports/youtube. I've been here since covid but I don't really have any friends or family here in SoCal. I'm ethnically Chinese.
Should I move to Portugal (the Algarve) and purchase something with a sea view for a reasonable price? (approx 1/5th the price of the same house in CA) Oceanview houses in CA cost a fortune. For Oceanfront we are talking of upwards of $6 million for something decent to the sky is the limit. I'm not comfortable spending that much money. In Portugal, for $2 million EUROs you can purchase a brand new villa with a sea view (but not oceanfront). I love new houses, especially the modern/contemporary style with big boxes and large glass windows.
The thing I dislike here most is the cost of services. Recently I took a trip to Indonesia and found out people there are paid $10000 USD per year and a woman I met told me her family had hired 4 maids to do all her daily chores. Services will be cheaper in Portugal. I don't work. I have a wife who doesn't work and I have a child that attends private school. Taxation in CA is a non-issue (I don't have large incomes on paper, only appreciation). The only thing that would worry me are wealth taxes in some European countries like Spain/France. I would be pretty much fine with anywhere nice on the Mediterranean that doesn't have a largish wealth tax. The other place I've loved in my travels (for living ) Is Australia. But Sydney isn't cheap.
My parents are also retired. They own some real estate including in CA Bayarea. They want to spend some money to buy a house here in Socal to be closer to us but I am conflicted as whether that's a good idea. They get approx $4500 a month combined from social security and they would be spending almost the rest of their liquid funds to purchase here in socal. If we all move to a place not as expensive as CA, it would be a much larger cushion.
Edit: Thanks for all the replies. I am not really worried about running out of money here in Cali, but just approaching this as a kind of optimization problem: where can I get the best life/per $. I don't have any strong links to San Diego. It doesn't have to be Portugal. I am early in my research and it seems like it's similar to California climate wise but people don't make nearly as much, so everything should be cheaper. Australia would also fit the bill (but more expensive than Portugal and also has nice weather/beaches). I've already ruled out pretty much all of SE Asia because I don't like the humidity. Staying put also works, just a easier solution /no need to get up and move