The 53-year-old early retiree has moved his family to Portugal: their happiness is now immense.

Alex and Nokie Trias retired early and moved to Portugal with their daughter in 2015. In February 2015, Alex Trias and his wife Noki took their daughter Evie on a vacation to Lisbon, Portugal, and never looked back.

Trias, who retired from his job as a corporate tax attorney in 2011, lived with his family in Washington, D.C., where Noki worked as a nurse and their daughter attended school. Since he retired, Trias has been self-employed, investing in real estate and stocks.

He tells CNBC Make It that the idea for early retirement came to him after just two weeks into his career as a lawyer. "I quickly realized that I had limited time to keep working the 90 hours a week that my job demanded," says Trias.

"The result was that I fanatically saved money and continued to do so for years.

After just four years of working for themselves, the family already had an investment portfolio that was paying enough dividends to live on - an average of $152,000 a year.

Just two days after starting their vacation in Portugal, the family began planning a move to Lisbon. They toured apartments during their trip, and when Noki and Evie returned home, Trias stayed a few weeks longer.

He found a 1,300-square-foot one-bedroom apartment in Bayrou Alto.

"It reminded me of Old San Juan, and it's one of my favorite places on the planet," said Trias, who has Puerto Rican roots. "When you walk there, the air smells like mahogany, ocean and palm trees. It's the same in Lisbon. I knew it would be great to live in a place like this. "

The June report from Moving to Spain named Portugal the best country in Europe for retirees.

The average cost of living, not including rent, is nearly 29% lower than in the U.S., according to SmartAsset. To retire in Portugal, U.S. citizens must obtain a visa for residency. According to Global Citizens Solutions, the process is relatively simple and requires a valid passport, proof of income, health insurance and a criminal record certificate.

Trias says the easy process has made the idea of living in Portugal even better.

Alex and Noki are spending their retirement traveling and spending more time together. While Alex is busy investing and freelance writing, Nokie has found enough free time to join a local tennis group and pay more attention to her health. The couple goes on dates and explores new things together, such as different activities and places in Europe and Portugal.

Now that Evie is finishing her last year of high school and looking at colleges outside of Portugal, the family is in transition.

"We still have time to do something else. If we want to move to Thailand and work at an elephant rescue center, we can still do that," Trias says. "I like to think we still have a few chapters ahead of us. "