This a hot discussion that I have often with many of my colleagues who used to live in #Dubai and are now in #Canada.
Some of my friends & Colleagues plan to go back to Dubai as soon as they get a #Canadian citizenship and some others prefer to stay and make a future here in Canada.
Key motivations for going back to Dubai would include but not limited to:
-Luxury lifestyle
-Better weather
-Tax-free salaries
-Proximity to their home countries where most of them would say that they wish to see their parents back home who are getting older.
-More conservative educational programs that don't promote the "Freedom " that Canada does include in their programs for the kids.
At least, these are the main reasons that my friends would consider for leaving Canada and going back to Dubai, which I respect, In the end, it is their decision and no one has the right to stop them from doing so.
However, it also happened that some families did go back to Dubai and they came back to Canada within a year or less due to the following financial reasons I would sum as follows :
A luxury lifestyle would require you to benefit from a luxury salary pay.
This is an average annual income that one's should be aware of and this is based on what an actual friend who lives in Dubai now has shared with me today :
-6500 DHS Av. Monthly rent for a two-bedroom apt (family of 2 +2 kids)
-6000 DHS Av .monthly car -installments + fuel + maintenance + speed fines..(Most married people would want to have two cars ...
-500 (Phones, internet, subscriptions )
-3000 DHS for groceries & house shopping
-2500 DHS average monthly outings (Weekends & Dining out)
-1500 DHS minimum monthly shopping if you are not the shopping person
-4500 DHS school fees for two kids in an average private primary school
-2000 DHS in case you will be paying for your home appliances and furniture in installments for the first two years of your arrival.
A simple calculation would show that for a modest way of living in a luxury lifestyle, a family needs close to 25,000 DHS (Around 6850 USD )per month just to cover what I would call basics when you want to live in a luxury country!
But that is not all right? When you live in a country like Canada, you pay taxes but you are covered when you are up for retirement, which means, in a place like Dubai, you would need to save some money for hopefully a long life after retirement plus an amount that would allow you to invest in a small project?
It depends on where you come from and where you plan to retire, but we also know that 100,000 USD will not guarantee your retirement, so if we say that you would aim to save 300,000 USD in 15 years, that means you would need to save monthly close to 6000 DHS.
After working for 15 years in Dubai with a 20,000 DHS basic salary (Package could be 25000 but gratuity is on the basic) you would be expecting close to 74 K USD, which means you would need to save an additional 4600 DHS per month to guarantee a 300 K.
If we add the 4600 per month to 25000 , that is almost 30,000 DHS per month OR 8200 USD more or less.
Therefore, for any family of two +2 kids, that doesn't spend much on shopping, doesn't plan to have a maid, doesn't go to ultra-luxury restaurants and bars, doesn't ride luxury cars, doesn't want to live in fancy villa and are ok with a 300 k USD after 15 years of work at retirement, you expected to make more than 30,000 DHS or 8200 USD/ Month as a family income for sure!
If you wish to have all of the above and plan to save a decent amount after 15 years of work in Dubai, you can do the calculation, but what is sure that is you should be making more than 15-20k USD/ Month as a family income to enjoy a luxe retirement!
My message to any who would read my article is to objectively make the calculation, think about the long term, and decide to stay in Canada or enjoy the luxurious life in Dubai in a way that they don't regret it when they come closer to their retirement.
In the end, each person / Family has their #Priorities and a decision would be made based on these priorities, good luck to everyone in making their decisions.
From someone who lived in the Gulf for 18 years and has been in Canada for the last 5 years and still :)