Pocketful of Dirhams

Is now the time to invest in UAE property?

As the UAE’s property market continues its strong recovery from Covid-19 pandemic-induced headwinds, recent changes to the country’s visa rules have opened up long-term real estate investment options for residents wanting to put down roots in the Emirates.

While average property prices in Dubai rose by 10.9 per cent, year on year, last month, residents can now qualify for a 10-year golden visa if they buy a property for as little as Dh2 million ($544,588).

Despite rising interest rates, the initiative is attracting both residents and high-net-worth individuals from around the world, with an average budget of about Dh3m, property experts say.

But where should you buy and how do you apply for the golden visa once you have decided on a property?

Host Felicity Glover is joined by Richard Waind, group managing director of Betterhomes, who discusses the UAE property market and how the golden visa is benefitting the long-term plans of UAE residents.

Hosted by Felicity Glover
Produced by Arthur Eddyson and Ayesha Khan

How to beat the rising cost of living

It's difficult at the best of times to stick to a budget — not only do you have to fund your daily living expenses, but there’s also paying down debt and meeting important savings goals to set you on the path towards a secure financial future. For parents, there are also expensive education costs to consider, as well providing for their children.

But during times of high inflation and rising interest rates, it becomes more difficult for households to stretch their dirhams further. Regardless of where you are in the world today, the prices of food, petrol and other everyday expenses are on the rise and salaries are not keeping up with inflation. This leads many people to struggle with their budgets. However, there are numerous ways to ease the financial stress you might be experiencing, experts say.

Host Felicity Glover is joined by Alison Soltani, founder of UAE savings website Leap Savvy Savers, who shares her tips on how to save money on everyday expenses during periods of high inflation.

Hosted by Felicity Glover
Produced by Arthur Eddyson and Ayesha Khan

How to negotiate the best car deal

Buying a new or used vehicle can be an overwhelming experience for many — especially if you know very little about cars and what to be aware of before making a commitment.

But cutting through the noise of slick sales talk and the many deals that are on offer in the UAE — which typically include extended warranties, free service packages, insurance and registration for the first year — is only the first step.

It is essential to do your research and set a budget before deciding on which car to buy: new, second-hand or even electric, experts say. It is also important to consider the cost of running a car, more so these days with higher petrol prices, as well as its long-term value.
So, where do you begin?

Host Felicity Glover is joined by automotive entrepreneur Naz Chaudhry, who shares his tips and tricks on how to negotiate the best deal when buying a car in the UAE.

Hosted by Felicity Glover
Produced by Arthur Eddyson and Ayesha Khan

How to protect your life savings from online scammers

Protecting our finances online has become more difficult since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when we switched our lives online to work, study and shop from home during movement restrictions.

The recent spate of true-crime documentaries on streaming services, including Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler, Bad Vegan and Inventing Anna, have served to highlight the issue — showing just how easy it is to trick people into handing over their life savings to a scammer.

Since 2020, online fraud has surged around the world, according to cyber security experts. But what are the red flags and how can you tell if an SMS, a website or even a social media post is genuine?

Host Felicity Glover is joined by Salah Suleiman, the UAE sales manager at internet content security company Trend Micro, who talks about online fraud and how to protect your hard-earned money.

Hosted by Felicity Glover
Produced by Arthur Eddyson and Ayesha Khan

UAE salaries: why the outlook is positive in 2022

Salaries, hiring and workplace trends have been some of the biggest concerns for employees since the Covid-19 pandemic began two years ago. From temporary furloughs to salary cuts and working from home, it has been a difficult experience for many people around the world.

However, the jobs market in the UAE will continue to recover in 2022 as business confidence and hiring activity return to pre-coronavirus levels, according to recruitment experts. A number of specialist recruitment agencies in the UAE are forecasting that our take home pay could rise as much as 5 per cent this year. But what other benefits can we look forward to?

Host Felicity Glover is joined by Grace Eldridge, a business manager at recruitment specialist Hays Middle East, who talks about this year’s UAE salary trends.

Hosted by Felicity Glover

Produced by Arthur Eddyson and Ayesha Khan

Why balance is important for happiness, health and wealth

Personal finance expert and author Andrew Hallam has inspired expatriates around the world to invest more effectively through his international bestselling books Millionaire Teacher and Millionaire Expat, which detail his journey about how he built a million-dollar portfolio of low-cost exchange-traded funds on a teacher’s salary.

Hallam, who started investing as a teenager and became a millionaire at 37, has a new book out this month: Balance: How to Invest and Spend for Happiness, Health and Wealth. Balance was inspired by Hallam’s curiosity about why people equate success with money and career. While these aren’t bad goals, he says, there is more to life than work and a salary. Hallam believes success should be measured by life satisfaction based on four factors: strong relationships, having enough money, good health and a sense of purpose. But how do we achieve this?

Host Felicity Glover is joined by Hallam, who talks about his new book and why it’s important to find the right balance in your financial life.

Hosted by Felicity Glover

Produced by Arthur Eddyson and Ayesha Khan

Why it is important to stress test your portfolio

With so much talk about stagflation, inflation, stock market bubbles, the Covid-19 pandemic and the supply chain crunch, investors have every right to feel jittery these days. And as central banks start preparing to withdraw their pandemic stimulus measures, now is the time to put your investment portfolio through a stress test to help protect your financial future. Taking steps to shield your portfolio from market forces should be done at least once a year, experts say.

 

While nobody can accurately predict when a crisis may happen, the best way to protect your investments is to globally diversify your portfolio across a spread of assets. This means not putting all your eggs in one basket and diversifying it across a range of assets, including commodities, government bonds, property and equities. The idea behind this is if one asset performs poorly, the others can offset this, experts say.

 

But what are the red flags and how do you position your portfolio to hedge against market threats?

Host Felicity Glover is joined by Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, who takes us through the steps of stress testing our investment portfolios.

 

Hosted by Felicity Glover

Produced by Arthur Eddyson and Ayesha Khan

Meet the Dh50 million Mahzooz winner Junaid Rana

Almost everybody has dreamt of one day winning a life-changing amount of money. For most, however, it remains nothing more than that: just a dream. But for Junaid Rana, a 36-year-old Pakistani driver who grew up in Dubai, that dream became reality when he won Dh50 million ($13.6 million) after entering a Mahzooz weekly draw last month.

He’s gone from earning Dh6,000 a month as a company driver to now having the financial freedom that many people spend a lifetime seeking. One month on from his life-changing win, Mr Rana says he’s still coming to terms with the fact that he’s a multimillionaire and no longer has to work for anybody.

Host Felicity Glover is joined by Mr Rana, who talks about his future plans and how this life-changing amount of money will make a difference to his and his family’s life.

Hosted by Felicity Glover
Produced by Arthur Eddyson and Ayesha Khan

How to make money grow on trees

“Money doesn’t grow on trees” is an expression we have all heard at some point in our lives. It might be something our parents told us or we tell our own children when they demand things that are too expensive. The transformational coach and yoga teacher Esra Ogut, author of Money Does Grow on Trees: The Myths We Create and Live By, says the reverse is true.

 

Ms Ogut, a former shoe salesgirl from Turkey turned millionaire living in the US, believes that success is a matter of personal choice and the key to this is simply learning how to make that happen. This can be done by removing those self-imposed limitations that block us from success and hide the money that is sitting out there on trees waiting to be picked.

 

So, how we break those self-imposed limitations to ensure we can achieve prosperity? Host Alice Haine is joined by Ms Ogut, who outlines the steps to take for increasing your wealth.

 

Hosted by Alice Haine

Produced by Ayesha Khan and Arthur Eddyson

Why this man is on a mission to help others save money

If there’s one lesson that the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us, it’s that being financially secure during times of uncertainty is crucial. This includes having a financial safety net to protect against job loss or other unforeseen events, as well as saving and investing for the future. But money skills continue to lag, according to a 2019 financial literacy survey by Visa, which found that 43 per cent of respondents in the UAE felt they were not ready to manage their own money.Another 53 per cent said schools did not prepare them enough to take care of their finances.

And this is where Rolly Brocales is hoping to make a difference. The managing director of restaurant chain Off The Hook is on a mission to help his 90 employees save for their futures by teaching them financial literacy skills. Host Felicity Glover is joined by Mr Brocales, who discusses how he and his partners are helping their team invest and set financial goals.

Hosted by Felicity Glover
Produced by Ayesha Khan and Arthur Eddyson