“If I leave London for a finance job in Dubai, I can retire in 10 years”

11 June 2025

3 minute read

“If I leave London for a finance job in Dubai, I can retire in 10 years”

I’m in my mid-40s and am employed by a major US bank in London. I want to leave and find a new job in either Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Saudi Arabia.

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I am done with London. Last week, I had my phone stolen on the way back from work, and I am fed up with living in a high-cost, low-security city.

Compared to London, the Middle East is incredibly safe and secure. I know plenty of people who live there, including a friend who left his MacBook and his car keys on the street by mistake – they were still there 20 minutes later. People just walked on by.

The Middle East has huge appeal to a lot of people like me who are fed up with the breakdown of law and order in London. People there are scared of the authorities. They know that if they step out of line, there will be serious consequences – particularly in Saudi Arabia. In London, there’s nothing to fear.

A short period in the Middle East can also set you up for life financially. I can no longer afford to privately educate my kids in London, but there are corporate jobs in the Middle East that come with school fee and housing allowances, and my intention is to land one of these.

Working in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Saudi Arabia, I could net $300k a year. In five years, I could pay off my mortgage and the mortgage on my rented house. I would then be in a position to retire in my mid-50s.

With incentives like these, I see no reason to stay in London. I understand that in Saudi Arabia I might have a more junior Saudi national as my boss, but frankly this is something I'm prepared to accept given the upsides. I also think that people work less hard in the Middle East and that with my London work ethic it will be easy to differentiate myself.

Javad Pasdar is a pseudonym

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AUTHORJavad Pasdar

Insider Comment

ja
jaxjax
17 June 2025
Javad, I have worked in the ME since 1999. And while everything you state is true. I would like to add some hard earned reality to you idea. First, every expat I've known who has left rainy London for Dubai was unprepared for how hard employers there expect you to work. Six 12hr days is not uncommon. So in that ten years you speak of, you feel like you've aged 30 for all the long days, nights, and weeks. And while you can save some money there, most expats will raise their standard of living with the tax savings from living there. New cars, nice flats, and Filipino child care remove much of the added income from your pocket. Then there is the heat, 7 months of mall hiking and living inside like its on Mercury wears you, your wife and kids. So, beware stranger, there is a price to be paid for such wealth.
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An
Anon123654
12 June 2025
Perhaps Dubai will suit you... but think very carefully before going to Saudi Arabia. It may look on the surface to be very similiar to London... but once you scratch the surface the rules of society are very different. Make sure you *really* understand this before you move home.
1 reply
Gh
GhostFaceChillah
11 June 2025
I think the OP is incredibly wrong about the work ethic in the MIddle East. He or she is in for a rude awakening if they think that people work "less hard" in the region. As someone who's dne the reverse switch from Dubai to London - I dont miss the weekend client calls (KSA weekend is Friday and Saturday), the unreasonable out of scope asks, the same-day or overnight turnaround deadlines and subjuguation to working to London timings and MENA timings simulteansouly (London is 3-4 hours behind). Theres an inherent cost to moving to a tax-free country and it can outweigh the monetary benefits.
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si
sirius
11 June 2025
You should leave ASAP. Also why keep the house in such a lawless place as London? Why not invest that money in a nicer property that you can actually live in? The UAE is clearly the future of finance.
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