Working in Dubai

HG1399

Hello,

I am working in Dubai and looking at different ways to save money effectively over the coming years. Ill be putting away between £1,500-£2,000 monthly into a savings account and wasn’t sure the best way to do this. Save money in Dubai banks? Save in England banks? ISA? Investments?

Was wondering if anybody could offer guidance as to what to do to maximise interest/additional earnings through my savings.

Many thanks

Socajam

Me personally I would save the bulk of my money in England.
Knowing how volatile the Middle East is, I would keep only a small portion of my money there.
I would choose ISA and other investments.
If you don't have a property - Help to Buy ISA

xylophone

I would choose ISA and other investments.
If you don't have a property - Help to Buy ISA

The OP says that he is living and working abroad.

See https://www.gov.uk/individual-savings-accounts/if-you-move-abroad

He may well have kept his UK bank account but opening savings or investment accounts in the UK could be difficult.

NS & I might be a possibility.

https://www.nsandi.com/i-live-outside-uk-can-i-invest-with-nsi

Socajam

xylophone wrote: »

The OP says that he is living and working abroad.

See https://www.gov.uk/individual-savings-accounts/if-you-move-abroad

He may well have kept his UK bank account but opening savings or investment accounts in the UK could be difficult.

NS & I might be a possibility.

https://www.nsandi.com/i-live-outside-uk-can-i-invest-with-nsi

May be the ISA cannot be done, but I have known people who live and work abroad and still save money in their UK bank accounts.
What the OP need is to have a UK address for his mail.
As I said regarding volatile nature of the ME I would not save the majority of my money there.
Your suggestion about the NS&I is a good point and this can be done online.

ChasingSunshine

I suppose the first thing to do is to decide what you need the money for and when which helps you decide if you are looking to save in cash or if investing is more suitable. How long are you planning to be in Dubai? Do you plan to move back to the UK? Do you require a safe amount such as for house deposit etc? At the moment the exchange rate is in your favour for transferring money back to the UK but keeping money in cash (sterling) might not fit with your long term plans. If investing, have a look at simplyfi.org. They are dubai based and have some local resources that should help. Keep away from the investment / savings schemes that can be offered and which tie you into decades of payments with high fees and low returns.

Agree that contributing to open accounts should be doable but you won't be able to open a new account as most of them require you to declare you are UK resident. Definitely don't keep much money in UAE. Even without the current political climate there is also the risk of bank accounts being frozen if you lose your job, assets being subject to Sharia law on inheritance if you die etc.

HG1399

ChasingSunshine wrote: »

I suppose the first thing to do is to decide what you need the money for and when which helps you decide if you are looking to save in cash or if investing is more suitable. How long are you planning to be in Dubai? Do you plan to move back to the UK? Do you require a safe amount such as for house deposit etc? At the moment the exchange rate is in your favour for transferring money back to the UK but keeping money in cash (sterling) might not fit with your long term plans. If investing, have a look at simplyfi.org. They are dubai based and have some local resources that should help. Keep away from the investment / savings schemes that can be offered and which tie you into decades of payments with high fees and low returns.


Agree that contributing to open accounts should be doable but you won't be able to open a new account as most of them require you to declare you are UK resident. Definitely don't keep much money in UAE. Even without the current political climate there is also the risk of bank accounts being frozen if you lose your job, assets being subject to Sharia law on inheritance if you die etc.

Yes I will return to the UK. I am hoping to work there for 5 more years as that will give me a good gratuity payment at the end of it. Ideally yeah I’m looking at coming back with a decent house deposit, money for a nice car etc. Nothing im ediste over the next 5 years. Planning on not touching the money once it’s deposited wherever.

Speedbird676

HG1399 wrote: »

Hello,

I am working in Dubai and looking at different ways to save money effectively over the coming years. Ill be putting away between £1,500-£2,000 monthly into a savings account and wasn’t sure the best way to do this. Save money in Dubai banks? Save in England banks? ISA? Investments?

Was wondering if anybody could offer guidance as to what to do to maximise interest/additional earnings through my savings.

Many thanks

Having been there and done that, I can tell you what my strategy was, which may or may not be suitable depending on your goals.

I had a current and savings account in the UAE and would sweep any excess cash to the savings account each month. Once that had built up to a reasonable level I'd use ofx to transfer to one of two places. At the time ofx had a minimum transfer of (I think) AED 10,000 to avoid a fee, but they're now fee free on all values.

Where did my savings go?

1. UK savings account that I'd opened before I left, if the exchange rate was favourable.
2. USD savings account with HSBC Expat, as the AED is pegged to USD, which gets the money out of the UAE and allows you to take advantage of exchange rates when they are favourable.

At the time, my goal was to move back to the UK and my savings would ultimately be used for a house purchase, so the majority came back to the UK pre-referendum. I would have made much more had I kept it in the USD account and transferred after the referendum, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

As others have stated, you will struggle to open new accounts in the UK after you leave as most require you to be UK resident to open account. Likewise, you cannot fund an ISA if you are non-resident but you can keep an existing ISA open. This becomes a "problem" when any initial rate drops down as you cannot then transfer to a new ISA.

Speedbird676

ChasingSunshine wrote: »

Keep away from the investment / savings schemes that can be offered and which tie you into decades of payments with high fees and low returns.
.

Second that!

ChasingSunshine wrote: »

Definitely don't keep much money in UAE. Even without the current political climate there is also the risk of bank accounts being frozen if you lose your job, assets being subject to Sharia law on inheritance if you die etc.

Second that!