Save Money: the black cloud in the lifestyle of expatriates

  Chris Ferguson is the Director General of the UAE branch of Guardian Wealth Management (GWM), which opened in the United Arab Emirates in 2010. The global financial planning and investment company with offices in cities such as Doha, Hong Kong and Geneva helps expatriates map on their financial future and Mr Ferguson said UAE residents are slow to realize their full potential for economies.

How expats can benefit financially, living in the United Arab Emirates?

You earn a high income is tax-free, and most packages include expatriate housing and private education for the education of their children. Therefore, the elements you mean replace taxes in a country like the United Arab Emirates are optional, such as visits to restaurants. To ultimately earn a higher gross people with less restraint and spend less personal, so that the net income of the household is the ability to save money.

What does it mean for a company like yours that?

We arrange finance people and essentially create a plan that provide all the financial viability in their twilight years. In many countries around the world, increasing the retirement age as people's ability to have a secure financial retirement is below - it's a huge hole in the area of ​​retirement planning. When people come to the United Arab Emirates, they can sit in the driver's seat and create a financial plan to ensure a successful retirement.

Here enough to rescue expats?

No, there's a huge failure rate. Priorities to be disturbed; expatriates receive their gross income and spend on luxuries such as meals and parties - all this is a luxury in the real world - rather than major financial milestones.

GWM is a relatively new player in the market for financial services United Arab Emirates. How do you plan to encourage people to save more?

We want to introduce more than one model of financial life planning. This means that instead of the sale to cover all the financial plan of the customer a financial product. Many people in the UAE have a financial advisor, but I'm not sure they have a good financial plan. We use psychometric tests and 33 questions to ask customers to determine their true risk tolerance.

What is the performance test?

People can afford to take more risks than actual. Often I find a client to express an attitude of tolerance for risk, they do not really understand. Then created the advisor of the Portfolio, and later in the review process, the customer gets upset because her portfolio was not executed as they wanted.

Why are financial advisors have such a bad reputation here?

There is more to do with the way that the customer that maybe the board is finally given a customer. In most developed economies, domestic workers have to encourage tax incentives to save money for their retirement. Here, other than free, there is no incentive for it is the customer's choice. In terms of marketing, consulting firms here to take the products to the customers.

What are the three elements of any emigrants were in their portfolios?

Life insurance and critical illness cover, a will and a certain form of regular financial savings milestones - basically retired.