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Surprisingly, although we are living in the tax free city of Dubai, we come here in the hope that we will save our Dubai earnings but somehow end up spending and spending and spending! We rely on friends or colleagues instead of turning to the experts to help you look after your Dubai earnings.

To help us all, we have enlisted the help of one of Dubai’s financial experts.

Richard, a fully qualified financial expert, thrives on the variety of his job and his clients. ‘What I find satisfying is that everyone’s needs are different and so present a variety of challenges when it comes to structuring their finances’ he explains. The challenge for many people in Dubai is getting caught in a lifestyle trap – overspending without any thought for the future. ‘It’s a fantastic city to live and work but it’s very tempting to be seen to be living the dream, easily leaving residents heading for financial trouble’.

The first piece of advice Richard gives to clients is to live within their means – starting by paying off credit cards at the end of every month from their Dubai earnings and avoiding unsecured debt. ‘It’s important to remember that jobs in Dubai can end abruptly. If you haven’t a financial safety net, life can become extremely difficult.’ When it comes to saving, Richard advises clients to put aside at least 10% of their monthly Dubai earnings as a minimum. ‘A disciplined person saves at the beginning of the month as a priority – not at the end if there happens to be a little money left. I also advise clients away from tying themselves into saving plans that locks them in for very long periods – again because of the often transient nature of expatriates in Dubai you don’t want to be committing to a plan that you may not be sure of seeing through to the end.’

Having experienced the financial turmoil of the last few years around the world, Richard does feel people are getting smarter with their money and becoming more educated about the vehicles they can use to maximise their earnings for a secure retirement. ‘My role is very much advisory rather than selling plans. It’s my job to help people plan their short, medium and long-term financial goals because if you don’t know what benchmark you are aiming for – how can you ever have the satisfaction of reaching it?’

Richard will be writing for Dubai Survival Guide but in the meantime, if you have any queries regarding your finances give him a call on +971 050 162 5586. As everyone’s situation is personal and different Richard prefers to answer any queries after having discussed the individual’s situation. He may be in a position to answer some general queries so please complete the form at the end of this page and Richard will respond asap. You can also reach Richard by emailing us here at Editor@DubaiSurvivalGuide.com.

We will have more information from the banks as soon as possible.

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