But getting started on that savings journey is much easier said than done, more so when there are bills to pay, debt payments to make and battling that all-too familiar temptation of impulse purchases.
Giving up that instant gratification — such as wasting money on things we do not need or ordering takeaway every night — is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome when it comes to committing to a budgeting and savings plan.
But it seems that our brains also have something to do with it. In 2018, a group of neuroscientists from Cornell University in the US conducted a study that explored whether our brains are hard-wired to earn more money rather than save it.
For example, what do we do when we receive a pay rise — spend it or save it?
According to the study, we are more likely to spend that pay rise and continue trying to earn more money in the short term rather than taking advantage of compounding interest by investing it for the long term.
In other words, we live for the present rather than the future.
“There’s this implicit blame that people aren’t working hard enough and that the lack of savings is a reflection of work ethic,” Adam Anderson, associate professor at Cornell University’s College of Human Ecology and co-author of the report, told CNBC in an interview in 2018.
“But the data suggest that while people work a lot and work hard, saving is a problem.”
That problem we have with saving is reflected in numerous global studies and surveys.
Last October, a survey of more than 2,300 people by financial services company Bankrate, found that about 55 per cent of US adults felt their retirement savings were not where they need to be, with nearly 35 per cent saying they were “significantly behind” and another 20 per cent saying they were “somewhat behind” their goals.
Meanwhile, a 2020 survey by global consulting company Mercer found that almost half of all UAE residents often delayed preparing for their retirement until they had reached their late 40s and 50s.
The Mercer study also found that 45 per cent of foreign employees in the UAE either had no means of maintaining a decent standard of living in their retirement, or plan to work beyond retirement age to derive enough income for their later years.
There is no magic formula when it comes to saving — yes, smart money skills do go a long way to help people set financial goals and create a budget to manage their savings, debt repayments and daily expenses.
But for those who struggle to save regardless of the level of their financial literacy knowledge, the good news is that you can retrain your brain to embrace a savings mindset.
While it takes a lot of hard work and discipline — especially in the beginning — there are ways you can turn it into a daily habit, according to financial experts.
The first step is to set up a realistic budget based on your salary and figure out your needs and wants — and there are plenty of budgeting apps out there to help you do this.
UAE salary guide 2023 — in pictures
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE Salary Guide
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023.
UAE salary guide 2023.
UAE salary guide 2023.
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
UAE salary guide 2023
One way is to apply the 50:30:20 rule to your finances.
This means that 50 per cent of your monthly income goes towards necessities (such as rent, groceries and utilities), 30 per cent for wants (those little luxuries in life) and the remainder for paying off debt and savings.
Once you’ve figured out your budget, this is where you can become creative in how you plan to save and invest for the future.
Creating visual aids is an interactive way to track your savings progress — it could be a chart or picture that you update every month with coloured pens.
If you don’t want to create one yourself, you could try budget-friendly digital printables that you can purchase from online stores such as Etsy.
You could also try envisioning your future financial goals — do you want to buy a house or retire early, for instance?
Create a mood board that reflects your goals — it is a great way to keep you motivated and on track with what you want to achieve financially.
Perhaps one of the most powerful motivators — or shock? — to save is to look into the future.
One study by Stanford University found that people who can view digitally altered images of their future selves — what they look like in old age — are more likely to save for retirement.
“In all cases, those who interacted with their virtual future selves exhibited an increased tendency to accept later monetary rewards over immediate ones,” the authors of the study said.
You can check out your future self on age progression apps such as FaceLab, FaceApp and Oldify — and, hopefully, this acts as a major motivator to financially empower yourself and start saving for the future.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies direct from Dubai to Rio de Janeiro from Dh7,000 return including taxes. Avianca fliles from Rio to Cusco via Lima from $399 (Dhxx) return including taxes.
The trip
From US$1,830 per deluxe cabin, twin share, for the one-night Spirit of the Water itinerary and US$4,630 per deluxe cabin for the Peruvian Highlands itinerary, inclusive of meals, and beverages. Surcharges apply for some excursions.
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
UAE rugby in numbers
5 - Year sponsorship deal between Hesco and Jebel Ali Dragons
700 - Dubai Hurricanes had more than 700 playing members last season between their mini and youth, men's and women's teams
Dh600,000 - Dubai Exiles' budget for pitch and court hire next season, for their rugby, netball and cricket teams
Dh1.8m - Dubai Hurricanes' overall budget for next season
Dh2.8m - Dubai Exiles’ overall budget for next season
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
Sid Jhurani is not the first cricketer from the UAE to go to the UK to try his luck.
Rameez Shahzad Played alongside Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett in Durham while he was studying there. He also played club cricket as an overseas professional, but his time in the UK stunted his UAE career. The batsman went a decade without playing for the national team.
Yodhin Punja The seam bowler was named in the UAE’s extended World Cup squad in 2015 despite being just 15 at the time. He made his senior UAE debut aged 16, and subsequently took up a scholarship at Claremont High School in the south of England.
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Daniella Weiss and Nachala Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
