Gary Clement for The National
Gary Clement for The National

Kanye West’s debts reflect our own situations in the UAE



Who'd have thought it? Kanye West, of "all things in excess" fame, a poster boy for personal debt. (Thank your lucky stars I didn't start with "Kanye believe it?")
Jokes aside, it's a tough time for West. His wife gave birth to their second child three months ago, and it could be that he's just coming to terms with the cost of another mouth to feed, clothe, entertain and educate, which might explain a Twitter outburst sharing his money problems.
On Valentine's Day, he tweeted to his 19.5 million followers: "I write this to you my brothers while still 53 million dollars in personal debt ... Please pray we overcome."
It's perfectly understand­able that he's reaching out for help when you compare what he earns with how much he owes. He makes an estimated US$20m to $30m a year, which means he's in over his head by 212 per cent of his average income. Not a good DTI – debt to income – ratio.
Just to put it into perspective, Greece's DTI (where GDP is taken as income) is 179 per cent, according to Trading Economics, a platform that provides global economic data, whereas Saudi Arabia's is 1.6 per cent. Just think of the fuss that has surrounded their levels of debt to date.
That is nothing compared to the average American's DTI though, estimated to be 370 per cent. In the United Kingdom, where the figure is less than half this per household, there is growing concern around predictions that things will get much worse by 2020, when the average household DTI is expected to reach 172 per cent – that's higher than the previous peak that existed in the run-up to the financial crisis. So either Kanye has a great grip on his spending compared to his fellow Americans, or the country is headed for money meltdown on a spectacular scale.
When I refer to debt in the context of people like you and me, I mean adding up all outgoings – rent, credit card payments, loans, food, everything you spend on – not just payments due to service debt taken out.
Here in the UAE there are no reliable figures for this sort of thing. But if I were to hazard a guess I'd say personal DTI lies somewhere in between UK and US levels. I base this primarily on gut (never to be overlooked), as well as averaging out how agonisingly difficult it is for very solvent people I know to take out any debt in the UAE. This is because they are sole trader/small business types who don't fit the UAE banking mould, compared to others who land themselves in hundreds of thousands worth of debt on an average salary.
My token number-crunching also takes into account the proportion of income spent on housing and utilities in this country. We're talking an estimated low of 18 per cent all the way up to 52 per cent for some – with a larger proportion of people in the 30 to 40 per cent range. Scary stuff when you think that this should be the upper limit of all debt, or outgoings.
Have you worked out your DTI? If not, I suggest you do. It's a way to measure your ability to manage payments you're committed to each month, and be good for the money you borrow.
Add up your monthly outgoings and divide by your monthly earnings. Multiply by 100 and you get your ratio of debt to income.
It's important you know this. Not only is it a key deciding factor for financial institutions, it also tells you at a glance how stretched you are.
As a general rule of thumb, a DTI of 50 per cent or more means you're a bad debt bet. You have too little left over in your pot to pay back additional loans comfortably.
Various sites suggest we aim for 30 per cent DTI. I would say go for a lower figure.
There's only one Kanye West, and you don't want his burden. But note that the figure for his personal debt is just over a third of his current estimated net worth of $147m – so he's very much quids in, and if for any reason he'd struggle, his fans are already on the case to bail him out. No such luck for the likes of you and me.
Nima Abu Wardeh is the founder of the personal finance website cashy.me. You can reach her at nima@cashy.me and find her on Twitter at @nimaabuwardeh.
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Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi

Director: Kangana Ranaut, Krish Jagarlamudi

Producer: Zee Studios, Kamal Jain

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Danny Denzongpa, Atul Kulkarni

Rating: 2.5/5

How to avoid crypto fraud
  • Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
  • Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
  • Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
  • Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
  • Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
  • Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
  • Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Traces%20of%20Enayat
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Game Changer

Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5

Race results:

1. Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi: 46.44 min

2. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team: 0.91sec

3. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team: 31.43sec

Padmaavat

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh

3.5/5

UAE squad

Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.

If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
ABU DHABI TRIATHLON

For more information, and to enter the race, please visit www.abudhabi.triathlon.org.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 6-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km

Price: Dh133,900

On sale: now 

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5