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To retire or keep working is the new expat dilemma
| Published: | 28 Aug at 6 PM |
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If you’re working in the UAE and hoping to retire there, planning your financial future is important.
Expats in the emirates are facing a retirement crisis, according to investment professionals. The UAE makes no provision for expat pension schemes or social security, in spite of the fact that a good number of expat professionals would prefer to spend their retirement in a place they now call home. As with the vast majority of developed countries, life in the Gulf States isn’t cheap, with costs of living similar to those in well-established first world locations. As a result, planning for a future retirement is seen as essential for the vast majority of expats, most of whom don’t seem to realise this fact.
For those without at least a basic grasp of personal finance education, working out the financial needs of retirement isn’t easy. Knowing who to trust as regards financial advice also isn’t easy, as many expat investors in the region have found to their cost. As life expectancy booms and more older expats stay mentally and physically fit, the age at which retirement kicks in is also expanding, with a recent survey indicating a third of respondents choosing 55 as the right age, 75 per cent saying 65 and five per cent having no intention of ever retiring. This last result is, according to other surveys, gaining more popularity year by year as expats realise enjoying life isn’t dependent on having nothing to do but relax.
Keeping working, they believe, will keep their minds sharp and their bank accounts healthy, meaning they have far more control over their lives in this uncertain world. For this group, long-term savings or investing money isn’t a necessity, especially after the number of recent financial scams in which expats lost all or a large percentage of their ill-advised investments. As the political world becomes ever more unstable, affecting exchange rates as well as conventional investments dependent on stock market performances, those intending to keep working may well have the best idea.
Expats in the emirates are facing a retirement crisis, according to investment professionals. The UAE makes no provision for expat pension schemes or social security, in spite of the fact that a good number of expat professionals would prefer to spend their retirement in a place they now call home. As with the vast majority of developed countries, life in the Gulf States isn’t cheap, with costs of living similar to those in well-established first world locations. As a result, planning for a future retirement is seen as essential for the vast majority of expats, most of whom don’t seem to realise this fact.
For those without at least a basic grasp of personal finance education, working out the financial needs of retirement isn’t easy. Knowing who to trust as regards financial advice also isn’t easy, as many expat investors in the region have found to their cost. As life expectancy booms and more older expats stay mentally and physically fit, the age at which retirement kicks in is also expanding, with a recent survey indicating a third of respondents choosing 55 as the right age, 75 per cent saying 65 and five per cent having no intention of ever retiring. This last result is, according to other surveys, gaining more popularity year by year as expats realise enjoying life isn’t dependent on having nothing to do but relax.
Keeping working, they believe, will keep their minds sharp and their bank accounts healthy, meaning they have far more control over their lives in this uncertain world. For this group, long-term savings or investing money isn’t a necessity, especially after the number of recent financial scams in which expats lost all or a large percentage of their ill-advised investments. As the political world becomes ever more unstable, affecting exchange rates as well as conventional investments dependent on stock market performances, those intending to keep working may well have the best idea.
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