Perceptions about the financial health of our neighbours can be vastly different from reality. Strive for affluence, not the appearance of it.
Perceptions about the financial health of our neighbours can be vastly different from reality. Strive for affluence, not the appearance of it.
Perceptions about the financial health of our neighbours can be vastly different from reality. Strive for affluence, not the appearance of it.
Perceptions about the financial health of our neighbours can be vastly different from reality. Strive for affluence, not the appearance of it.

Keeping up with Joneses can mean cutting back


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Compared to other countries, we here in the UAE wear our taste for luxury on our sleeves - and handbags and shoes and caps and sunglasses and car hoods. You get the picture. This thoroughly unsurprising news was delivered recently in the form of a global survey by the research firm Synovate, which delivered tidbits such as the fact that 26 per cent of UAE residents consider luxury a lifestyle, compared to just 17 per cent worldwide. And only 20 per cent of UAE respondents said they consider luxury something that is "over and above what you need", whereas almost double that number said they feel that way in the 11 other markets surveyed.

No doubt the local buyers for Gucci, Ferrari, Louis Vuitton and the like find the report a reasonable excuse to pop the cork on yet another bottle of Veuve Clicquot, but what does it mean for the rest of us? Is the unofficial national motto really "If you've got it, flaunt it"? Per-Henrik Karlsson, Synovate's director of business development in Dubai, put forth his theory that the attitudes revealed in the survey can be attributed at least in part to the onslaught of high-end brand advertisements that overwhelm visitors and residents while in the Emirates. In other words, the perception of ubiquitous luxury creates the reality.

I don't buy that argument - pun intended - as I've never been fully persuaded by the notion that we consumers are powerless in the face of almighty advertising. But I do believe that we are mightily influenced by our peers and the perception of how we stack up against them. It is a perilous weakness almost all of us possesses. One of the most treacherous pitfalls in personal finance is the compulsion to keep up with the Joneses (or whatever the last names of our friends and neighbours might be). It's particularly risky because our perceptions of the financial health of others are based on incomplete - and often incorrect - information.

We may assume that the stylish gent wearing the Rolex and the Charvet tie is perfectly fixed for an early retirement, when in fact he could be leveraged to the max and unable to sleep through the night. The huge best-seller from a few years back, The Millionaire Next Door, was built on observations like how the richest man in town is typically the one driving the six-year-old Buick, not next year's Rolls.

We should strive for affluence, not the appearance of affluence. There's a new website in the US called bundle.com that essentially turns the whole "keeping up with the Joneses" problem on its head by providing a quantitative peek into the checking accounts of our friends and neighbours. As Citibank is one of the site's backers (along with Microsoft), it uses aggregated transaction data from Citi customers as well as information from the US government and unnamed third-party sources.

The idea is that once I am able to see how people like me save and spend their money, I can identify areas where I will be able to re-evaluate my spending and perhaps cut back. Or maybe once I see how far behind I am in saving for retirement, I'll be that much more motivated to catch up. The site doesn't cover international markets as of yet, so I checked in on the residents of my old neighbourhood in New York. What I found surprised me.

When I was leaving the Big Apple, I chastised myself for not making a more diligent effort to enjoy the city's culinary delights. There are literally hundreds of fabulous restaurants and it seemed like I'd sampled only a measly portion. As I trudged home most nights, it seemed like the sidewalks were full of glamorous couples savouring their fabulous meals, while my wife and I haggled over who would stop at the grocery store to pick up more pasta.

The truth: I spent a lot more on food and drink than my peers. While I was eating out two to three nights each week, the average family was eating out only once each week and stretching leftovers into several additional meals (either that or they were eating at much cheaper restaurants). This minor discovery is not likely to revolutionise my spending, but it should make me think twice next time I am planning a night out on the town on the sole rationale that everyone else is doing it.

The good news is that the site tells me I spend far less on clothes than my peers. Maybe I'll head out to the Dubai Shopping Festival this weekend and snag that Ralph Lauren suit I have had my eye on - but only if it's on sale. @Email:breagan@thenational.ae

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What is Reform?

Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.

It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.

Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.

After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.

Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.

The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.

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While you're here
Company profile

Name: Dukkantek 

Started: January 2021 

Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani 

Based: UAE 

Number of employees: 140 

Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service) 

Investment: $5.2 million 

Funding stage: Seed round 

Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office  

The specs: 2019 Lincoln MKC

Price, base / as tested: Dh169,995 / Dh192,045

Engine: Turbocharged, 2.0-litre, in-line four-cylinder

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Power: 253hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque: 389Nm @ 2,500rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 10.7L / 100km

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

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All matches at the Harare Sports Club:

1st ODI, Wednesday - Zimbabwe won by 7 wickets

2nd ODI, Friday, April 12

3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14

4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16

UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed

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The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier. 

It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.  

“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. 

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October

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The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms. 

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Profile of Udrive

Date started: March 2016

Founder: Hasib Khan

Based: Dubai

Employees: 40

Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.

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