Financial Advice in Dubai - for senior international professionals

Financial advice in Dubai, UAE

Building your own financial security as a senior international professional is like a bridge between your current and future self. It can take years, but done well, can be magnificent.

As a resident of the UAE, you are living in one of the most exciting regions of the world, where your quality of life and that of your family will be second to none. You will likely have many opportunities for travel, to experience the fascinating and rich culture and heritage, to work hard and to get ahead, financially speaking.

If you’re looking for financial advice while working in Dubai, the most important thing is to find a professional financial planner, backed by an organisation you can trust. Do not assume the rules and regulations governing financial advice are the same as they are 'back home.' Tread with caution.

Follow your instincts when deciding whether or not to work with a financial adviser. Remember, they work for you and should always operate in your best interests. Make sure you find a financial adviser who values you as a client and who is fully transparent in terms of the service they deliver for the fee they charge.

Above all else, don’t be afraid to ask questions. A good financial planner in Dubai will:

1) Charge a transparent fee not a hidden commission;

2) Be highly professionally qualified (Chartered or working towards Chartered status);

3) Take the time to learn about you, your goals, and explain all your options, so you can make fully informed decisions for the benefit of your ideal future.

On this page, we answer some of the most frequently asked questions about financial advice in Dubai, and what good financial planning looks like.

Financial advice for global citizens in Dubai

As a senior international professional living in Dubai, you have so many opportunities – to travel, relax, socialise, progress your career…and to advance your financial standing.

But, like the many international executives we assist, you probably lack the time, inclination or knowledge to handle your (likely complex) finances alone.

Add to this that in Dubai, almost anyone can call themselves a financial adviser or planner, regardless of whether they have relevant skills, qualifications and experience or not.

Many are salespeople, whose interests are not aligned with their clients’, as they receive commission payments for products and solutions they sell.

The opposite of this are fiduciaries who charge a fee, and whose interests are intrinsically aligned with their clients’. However, both may go by the same professional moniker.

Ensure your financial adviser in Dubai has your interests at heart.

Financial planning and wealth management in Dubai

Lifetime financial planning and advice are core elements of our business.

We know that successful financial planning begins from a detailed understanding of each individual client’s position, and that is achieved through the financial advice and planning process.

We offer comprehensive financial planning solutions for those who are seeking expert support to grow and protect their assets. In addition, we also consult on the different aspects of any individual’s overall wealth strategy.

For example, we could assist with just pension refactoring, or simply your investment management needs.

Therefore, whatever your current financial requirements, please do get in touch to discuss them with one of our chartered financial planners in Dubai. We will always do everything we can to help you.

What does financial planning involve?

Planning around your finances is an ongoing process that lasts your lifetime. It may begin when you receive your first pay cheque, or when you take out a mortgage.

As you live your life, and opportunities and challenges present themselves, so your financial plan will need to be adapted and honed on a fairly consistent basis.

Financial planning while in Dubai will involve maximising the money you earn, saving and investing systematically for growth and stability, setting money aside for your long-term ambitions - like retirement, and sometimes just juggling your finances to meet all your expenses.

Financial planning needs are as unique as every person on the planet. A core part of financial planning is cash flow forecasting. That includes estimating the timing and amounts of cash inflows and outflows over a specific period. And cash flow forecasts can factor in different scenarios, to help you make the best decisions for your wealth at any given time.

For example, a cash flow plan for a retired person who has money saved and invested in pensions and funds might look at the tax implications of drawing different amounts annually. It could also look at whether it’s more tax effective to deplete inheritance taxable assets first, leaving pension funds ‘til last.

Cash flow planning, or forecasting, is usually part of financial planning undertaken by a financial planning professional for anyone with more complex financial decisions to make. The forecast is a financial illustration – that draws out your options, and the likely consequences of the decisions you could conceivably make.

Why is financial advice needed in Dubai?

As an international professional, financial planning has even more significance, since your circumstances are likely more complex.

A professional financial planner in Dubai can help you work out your short, medium and long-term financial goals, determine whether they are achievable, and if so how. The end result is you create a plan to meet all of your goals.

Without financial planning, how can you know where you want to get to, financially speaking – and how can you know what you need to do to get there?

Follow the 'ABC rule'

There could be more financial risks you’re exposed to, now that you live abroad. And, there could be more opportunities open to you for the investment of your wealth.

You need to understand the risks and benefits, plan to make the most of your time abroad, and factor in the most basic but critical financial rule all international professionals should follow…

If you’re from country A, and you live in country B, then you should bank in country C.

Banking offshore - that is banking in any country other than the one you live in – is one of the most sensible things you can do as an international professional.

It keeps your money outside your old home country’s tax net, it protects it from any economic or political threats that could arise in your current country, and as long as you choose a well-regulated offshore jurisdiction, it should mean your wealth is best protected.

Here are 9 more reasons why global citizens in Dubai need to think about financial planning:

1. Managing your income.

If you know how much you have coming in, what your outgoings are - including taxation if relevant - then you can ensure you live well within your means. You can plan to save and invest regularly each month towards longer-term goals.

The secret of many millionaires’ success is simply that – living well below their means so they have excess wealth to save and invest for growth.

2. Cash flow forecasting.

If you monitor your household’s spending patterns, factor in tax planning and then create a solid budget, such prudent cash flow planning will see you spend less, keep more, and be able to invest for growth as a family.

3. Capital growth.

With your budget created, you’ll hopefully have wealth you can allocate for growth each month. That means you save or invest it…

Through doing so you will be able to improve your overall financial well-being in the medium to long-term.

4. Family protection.

If you have a family, their well-being will be of utmost importance to you. Planning for their ongoing and long-term financial security will therefore be a critical part of your financial planning.

You will want to factor in essential insurances – from health to life and critical illness. And you may want to put money aside for the education of your children, to help them buy a house or get married.

Further down the line you may want to include estate planning in your financial plan, so you protect your family from the burden of death duties or inheritance tax when you die.

Depending on your stage in life, your goals and your tolerance for risk for example, it may make sense for you to invest your wealth…as this will give you the strongest chance to enjoy greater capital growth.

A complete financial plan and financial planning strategy will guide you to choose the right types of investments to suit your needs and goals.

5. Maintain your standard of living.

By building up savings with good planning, you will have an emergency fund should you need it, and peace of mind as a result.

By getting essential insurances in place as part of your plan as well, you will ensure you can maintain your standard of living even if income is lost should a family steward become unable to work.

6. Financial knowhow.

As you develop and build out your financial plan, your understanding of money, investing and the world of finance will improve. So few of us learn about money management in school, and so we will have to learn through doing. Build up your financial knowhow as you develop your financial plan with the support of a financial planning professional, and you’ll be sure to make well-informed, intelligent decisions for the benefit of your wealth. You will be able to set measurable financial goals, analyse and review the effects of decisions you make, and understand your results too.

7. Acquire valuable assets.

Many people consider their home to be an asset, but it’s one that comes with liabilities – mortgage, maintenance, property taxation and so on. As you develop your financial plan, you’ll be able to determine the real value of any given asset less its liabilities. As a result, you’ll be able to focus on building assets that don't become a burden in the future.

8. Savings mind-set.

Unexpected financial events occur on an all too frequent basis. Having the money to hand as part of your financial plan will prevent you being thrown off track by such a situation.

9. Ongoing advice.

As your wealth grows and your family also perhaps grows, it may become sensible to get a financial planner you can trust, to help you achieve your goals.

Your planner will assess your current financial circumstances, develop a comprehensive plan customised for you, and ensure the more complex elements of financial planning – like taxation and estate planning – are well taken care of.

Why is preparing a financial plan so important?

Consider this: why did you move abroad?

You’ll have your own very good reason, but somewhere behind your thinking there is very likely to have been a financial aspect driving some part of your plan.

It's likely your decision was career-driven, or maybe you moved to have a better work-life balance, or to earn more so you could fund private education for your children?

Preparing a financial plan is critical

Most people don’t have to dig too far beneath the surface of their decision to move overseas to find a financial driving force.

Will you fritter away your salary? Or will you embrace the opportunity?

You need a plan…

Preparing a financial plan is critical to your short, medium and long-term financial well-being. it will help keep you on track to get (and keep) the life you want. And your financial well-being is central to your overall peace of mind.

Comprehensive financial planning in Dubai

There are the 6 key considerations that go into comprehensive financial planning for high performance executives in Dubai, like you:

Cashflow planning, or cash management
Family and protection
Estate planning
Investment planning
Retirement planning
Offshore banking

Let's take a closer look at each: -

1. Cash flow planning or cash management

One of the best routes to strong budgeting - and ultimately to stress reduction - is to prepare a cash flow plan.

It will help inform your spending and savings decisions - and importantly, flag up future problems before they arise.

Your cash flow plan will take into account your income, assets, outgoings, other present-day information, and predict your future cash flow in order to predict how much money you’ll have coming in and going out at any given point in your life.

Your forecast will help you plainly see expenditure, so you can better plan.

The aim of cash management like this is to help you feel more confident about your finances, and have sufficient disposable income to enjoy throughout life – i.e., so you balance spending today - and then saving for growth for your future income needs.

An additional benefit is that many cash flow forecasts created by professional financial planners will help you spot potential shortfalls or issues before they occur.

If your plan anticipates future difficulties, such as not having enough to retire on, you’ll have plenty of warning to make alternative arrangements – like cutting spending and investing more today, so you can retire sooner and on a better income.

A strong side benefit of having a solid cash flow plan is that you demonstrate effective budgeting - which may give others confidence in your financial management, thus potentially helping you secure loans, funding, mortgages or overdrafts.

When we create a cash flow plan for you, we factor in extensive data. For example, we plan for the worst, plan for multiple different scenarios, consider fixed and variable costs and returns on investment…

And then we create your financial roadmap for your future prosperity.

2. Family and protection

Are you one of the so-called sandwich generation? Someone, like at least one million Britons for example, who is financially responsible for both younger and older family members?

If you have a single or dual financial responsibility as an expat, it’s critical to consider how your loved ones would cope if you were to suffer an incapacitating illness or even die.

There are very few countries in the world with as generous a social support system as the UK’s. And fewer still where foreign residents are eligible for financial support in times of hardship.

As a result, you need to think not just about growing your wealth, but also about protecting your family with insurance.

There’s a range of insurances and protections available that can help cover your family and give you the peace of mind that your loved ones will remain looked after, no matter what.

In some scenarios, protecting before investing may even make the most sense. A financial planner will help you determine your priorities, and how best to meet obligations and challenges to ensure your loved ones’ security is protected.

3. Estate planning

Having worked hard to build wealth and security for yourself and your family, the last thing you want is for an over-eager taxman to come along and rob your beneficiaries of what’s rightfully theirs when you pass away.

The fundamentals of estate planning and wealth protection or preservation need to be included in any financial plan – no matter how much or little you believe you’ll have to leave behind.

Inheritance taxes are only one part of the problem – as an expat your estate may be at risk of unfavourable laws of succession in the country in which you now live – or hold assets.

A financial planner focusses on protecting your wealth for today, tomorrow and your future generations.

They will work with you on your financial plan, look at estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes (as well as the income taxation of trusts, estates, and beneficiaries) for example.

This includes creating effective strategies for making of present and future interests, the effective use of assets providing death benefits (e.g., life insurance, commercial annuities, qualified retirement benefits etc.). The use of family businesses and investment entities as estate planning tools, the use of non-charitable actuarial techniques (e.g., qualified personal residence trusts and private annuities) in estate planning, valuation planning and estate freezing techniques.

4. Investment planning

Investment planning is the process of matching your financial goals and objectives with your financial resources, and it’s a core component of financial planning.

As a process, investment planning begins when you’re clear on your financial goals and objectives - it helps you match your financial resources to your financial objectives.

By helping you set out clear and measurable goals, your financial planner can match the most suitable mixture of investments to each specific goal in the most efficient way.

5. Retirement planning

Retirement is one of the most important life events many of us will ever experience. From both a personal and financial perspective, realising a comfortable retirement is an extensive process that takes sensible planning and years of persistence.

Even once it is reached, managing your retirement is an ongoing responsibility that lasts throughout your life.

While all of us would like to retire comfortably, the complexity and time required to build a successful retirement plan can make the whole process seem daunting.

However, retirement planning can often be done with fewer headaches (and financial pain) than you might think – what it takes is some homework, an attainable savings, an investment plan, and a long-term commitment.

6. Offshore banking

Keeping your money in a country other than the one in which you live means if anything happens, you know your money is being held securely in another location.

Keeping your money outside your old home country too will help you avoid paying taxes unnecessarily.

Another benefit of having an offshore bank account is that if you move countries again, you won’t have to move your money from one country to the next – because that is a major inconvenience.

By banking offshore, you can have all your assets arranged in one place.

Tax, trusts and financial planning in Dubai

Linking the above mentioned elements of financial planning together is tax and trust planning.

Don’t overlook your tax burden when planning your finances.

Even if you live in a low-tax jurisdiction now, you may be exposed to taxation in the future depending on how your portfolio is currently structured, and what your future plans are.

It’s also important to consider whether international trusts have a role to play in helping you manage your wealth.

While taxation is a fact of life, there is no law in any land that says you must pay more than you owe. And yet, that is what so many senior professionals end up doing, simply because they have failed to plan effectively, or perhaps don’t even understand their liability for tax.

If you’re a British expat – or have assets in the UK – your beneficiaries may be liable for UK inheritance tax for example - potentially on your worldwide estate.

And there’s more to tax than just inheritance tax…there’s capital gains, income tax…at home and abroad…

Your financial planner in Dubai needs to look at ways you can legally mitigate your tax burden, so that excessive taxation doesn’t undermine your overall financial plan.

Trusts can play a very important role in reducing tax liability – but because there are many different types of trust, it’s critical to ensure you have the right one in place…that’s where expert financial planning really could pay for itself.

Financial advice in Dubai, and the 6 steps to getting a successful financial plan in place

When you’ve found a financial planner in Dubai and conducted all your due diligence, here are 6 steps to ensure a successful financial outcome:

Establish your goals in life – your planner will work to understand your short, medium and long-term ambitions. We believe in goal-orientated financial planning at AES, to ensure you achieve everything you set out to.
Work out your assets and liabilities – your planner will list your assets and liabilities today, and using cash flow modelling, they will look at future potential scenarios to help structure your plan to grab opportunities and avoid problems.
Evaluate your current financial position – how close are you to achieving your goals? Are you on track for any of your ambitions, are you opening yourself up to risk or excess tax? Your planner will look at every scenario with you.
Develop your plan – having determined your goals, identified any threats or opportunities, and with a thorough understanding of you, your financial planner will create your road map for achieving each of your different goals.
Implement your plan – once this map is discussed, honed and agreed upon, the plans will be put in place so you can make the changes needed and ensure your financial future is successful.
Monitor and review your plan – at least yearly and make adjustments when needed. Your planner will review and rebalance your portfolio, and assess and adjust your plan as needed to ensure you remain on track for a solid and successful financial future.

What is personal financial planning and personal financial advice?

Personal finance is defined as the management of money and financial decisions for a person or family - including budgeting, investments, retirement planning and insurance. Therefore, personal financial planning and financial advice cover each of these elements in turn.

For high-performance executives living in Dubai, financial planning also includes considering offshore banking, the essential international insurances like medical insurance for example, and is arguably more important a process to commit to because of the increased risks and opportunities you’re exposed to.

If you already have or you are on the way to achieving £500,000 of investable assets - we can help. AES is the only CEFEX certified, fee-based financial planning company in the AMEA region.

Are financial planning fees tax deductible?

A business employing the services of a corporate financial planner may be able to offset their fees, but as an individual, it’s unlikely your personal financial planning fees will be tax deductible.

We are not taxation experts however, and because tax rules differ on a country-by-country basis, it would make sense to ask an accountant for advice about whether – in your personal circumstances – financial planning fees could be deducted from your tax liability, if you have one.

Whether they are deductible or not, it’s important for you to weigh up the value-to-expense-ratio of the fees. If a professional financial planner in Dubai will add significant value to your overall financial situation, then surely their fees are worth paying.

Significant value is gained by those who have complex financial planning needs and you will need to weigh up whether paying for a financial planner to help you, will make a positive, discernible difference or not.

If you already have or are well on your way to achieving £250,000 of investable assets, we would recommend booking a call with one of our Wealth Advice associates - they will answer any questions you may have and will be happy to help.

Quite simply, it is not in our interests to sign any client if we cannot help advance their financial position, therefore we will always be honest about whether we can increase your returns and improve your portfolio.

What are the fees for financial advice in Dubai?

Unfortunately, many 'financial advisers' in Dubai are actually salespeople.

You can easily differentiate in the majority of cases, because salespeople do not charge a fee for their service.

They instead take large, often hidden, commissions and perhaps even ongoing charges from their clients’ investment solutions.

Depending on the product they sell, the provider they choose and the amount of money their client entrusts them with, their commission payments can be as much as 12% up front.

This has an immediate and ongoing impact on an affected investment, and can scupper the best laid financial plans.

Think of other professions, like lawyers or accountants, who would charge a transparent fee rather than taking a commission.

Fee-only financial planning firms

However much you know about money and investing already, and however confident and competent you are at your own financial planning, it pays to have an objective expert with your very best interests at heart.

And when we say it pays, we mean it literally pays. Research from Vanguard has shown that as well as giving you peace of mind, a good planner can add about 3% a year to your net investment returns

How to find a chartered financial planner in Dubai

If you’d like to partner with a financial planner in Dubai, you need someone who is Chartered and acts as a fiduciary. Fiduciary basically means trusted.

At AES, this means you get the same advice we would give our family members. This sounds like common sense but it’s practice is extremely uncommon.

In fact, AES was the first and remains the only firm in the AMEA (Asia, the Middle East and Africa) region to meet this standard of excellence. That’s in a population of 5 billion+ people!

Your partner for financial advice in Dubai

AES employ a team of highly qualified Chartered financial planners and Chartered Wealth Managers.

Additionally, we employ pension transfer specialists and retirement planning specialists authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, and can draw on expertise covering every single element of finance – from lenders to private banks.

About AES

AES is a fee-based financial planning organisation, that helps senior international executives, non-doms and companies around the world apply the best ideas in finance to deliver better results - nothing less.

We take our responsibility to improve you and your family’s outcomes seriously, because we know your money represents your hard work and sacrifices, your hopes and dreams for the future.

AES also advocates education first, and we help you learn both the wisdom and the secrets the traditional industry doesn’t want you to know. Our reputation has been built on deep expertise, by applying academic research, scientific process and evidence to our work; we call our mission Positive Change - for which we have been commended by Richard Branson and The Economist.

10 ways AES can help you

AES delivers positive change by…

Helping you sleep at night by giving you clarity, confidence and control over your finances.
Simplifying complex matters, making finance accessible and understandable.
Getting you better results and reducing costs.
Delivering employee benefits, like medical insurance and pensions, that are valued and valuable.
Teaching you how to understand financial planning.
Helping you leave your children enough money to do something, but not so much they to do nothing.
Protecting you from investment opportunities that sound fantastic - but which contain hidden risks.
Acting as your independent, third-party sounding board to help you evaluate your options.
Minimising the taxes you and your children pay.
Giving you higher expected returns by taking a systematic, long-term approach to investing.

Your financial advice in Dubai checklist:

Independence

Ensure the financial adviser you choose is independent and not limited to recommend solutions from a restricted number of products or providers.

Testimonials and case studies

Ask to see testimonials and recommendations from satisfied clients.

Professional qualifications

Ensure your financial adviser in Dubai has suitable qualifications. A chartered financial planner has the most widely accepted ‘gold standard’ of qualifications available.

Fiduciary not salesperson

Does your financial adviser put your financial objectives first? How can you be sure? If they are not charging you a transparent fee for their services, they are being paid by commission – what’s to stop them placing your money in the product and with the provider that pays them the most? Look for a fiduciary, not a salesperson.

Whatever designation your financial planner in Dubai has, ensure they charge a transparent fee, are professionally qualified and act as a fiduciary, putting your financial needs first.

Responsive communication

Does your financial adviser in Dubai keep all lines of communication open and respond to telephone calls and emails in a timely and professional manner?

Additional services

Does your financial adviser in Dubai have access to additional specialists if required – such as a private banking specialist, lenders or pension transfer or retirement planning specialists?

Transparent and fair fees

Do you understand exactly what your financial planner in Dubai will charge, and what service you will receive for that charge?

Trust

Do you feel you can trust your adviser? While it’s unnecessary to become firm friends with your adviser, you need to be able to get on well enough so that a mutual relationship of trust can grow. If you feel nervous, uncomfortable, unsure or worried after talking to a financial adviser in Dubai, that’s an indicator you may not get on well.

Get a will in place

Irrespective of whether you decide to seek financial advice in Dubai or choose AES as your financial partner, please ensure you get a valid will in place to ensure that your estate is distributed in accordance with your wishes, and not those of the country where your assets are located.

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Financial Advice
in Dubai

A complete guide for senior international professionals