If you come to the ME, the idea is to make money and enjoy the easy lifestyle and save for retirement. At the present time if you come to Dubai and plan to go back to your country in the future you should be saving a lot of money while you are here. The cost of living in Dubai plus the deteriorating exchange rates makes it very hard to justify moving around here at present time. What most people seem to forget when they consider moving here is the fact that there is no serious pension plan (Except the Locals at EK). That means you will need a very nice bank account to retire, a house, and car, kids education finished and more. If you work for a cie back home with an established pension plan (Although not guaranteed anymore in these days) it just makes no sense. When you live around here there is not much to do that doesn't cost money (more than ever now) . You can lock yourself in your house trying to save as much as possible but then you go crazy. If you come here it has to be worth it. There is a price to pay to live in the ME. You leave something behind when you come here. It is not like being home here. You need to make it worth. Money is the key to happiness around here. Sad but true. When i arrived here about 8 years ago it was worth it (Considering cost of living + exchange rate i was saving about 50% of my salary) Now it is a very different story (I save about 35%). If you can save 5000.00$ US a month with a family around here you are doing very very good. That's 60000.00$ a year. ( Some will agree some won't...let's see
) That would mean not living the airline pilot lifestyle you dream of having the new cars, the toys, plus two trips a year. You will have a normal car, one trip back home a year ( that will cost you 10000.00$ US ++ exchange rates ) and nothing of the so extraordinary lifestyles of the rich and famous. You will work hard that's a fact. You are on your own and exposed to the elements. Nothing is guaranteed around here (well maybe a few things
). Personally i don't think it is a good deal anymore. With this paste of saving you will need to stay around here all your life if you want to achieve your financial goals. 10 years of saving is approx the price of a very nice home in some western counties and a nice car (not counting interests...i'm just a pilot and i never achieve the 30% a years many of my colleagues achieve over 10 years...
) Nothing more. If that's what you want, there you go. For me and for many people Dubai doesn't make financial sense anymore when you consider all of the other non financial aspects of living here (Read the many threads. 50 to 75 % true. Take some leave some). Maybe it took me a few years ( 8 ) to come to this conclusion, but i feel that coming here today, i would come to the same conclusion in probably 1 or 2 years instead of 8 years. Like a good friend of mine says... ¨I'm tired of living here in Dubai HOPING for better days¨. He has been here the same time as me. One thing is for sure, if you come to Dubai for the money, you might be disappointed. The good days are gone and unless drastic changes are made on the financial side by EK, this will just be a normal job in a very different and particular country. The good thing about it, nowadays you have no chance of being retained here by the golden handcuffs
Like the good old saying says around here. If you are not happy you can leave...hahahaha! Now this is only my personal opinion for what's it's worth. Good Luck in your choice of life!