Whether you're an Emirati or an expat, learning how to invest money in the UAE is an essential first step toward financial freedom.
However, choosing on the ideal investing strategy in this country might be a difficult task that few people can overcome without much research.
This lack of guidance frequently leads to certain extremely common and terrible mistakes:
- Individual stock investments rather than diversified portfolios
- An over-focus on real estate rather than stock market assets
- Working with pricey financial planners rather than cost-effective online advisors
- Being trapped into long-term insurance or savings programs.
This post will provide a full guide to setting up your wealth-building know-how if you are looking for sensible strategies to investing in UAE.
How to make an Investment Strategy?
The lack of a well-thought-out investment strategy is the first hurdle many persons seeking to invest in the UAE .
Before you begin investing, you must first construct an easily implementable investment plan to guide your wealth-building decisions.
Many people who lose money in bad investments do so because they have no broad strategy to follow.
They make a decision to invest because everyone else is. Alternatively, they avoid making an investment because none of their friends are doing so.
So, before you even consider how to invest money in the UAE, let's start with a step-by-step guide to sound investment planning.
How do you go about doing that?
Four crucial steps are outlined here.
Recognize your existing circumstance
Begin by gaining a thorough grasp of your existing circumstances. A 25-year-old who is just starting out in the workforce will have different investing goals and choices than a 55-year-old who has 10 years until retirement.
Consider your present investments in addition to your age.
Land, a rented property, or stock in a firm are all examples of current investments.
Make a list of all your current assets. You must first grasp where you are before you can go where you desire.
Make a list of all your debts as well. Make a note of all the debts you have, whether it's a mortgage, a business loan, a car loan, or credit cards.
Set defined investment objectives
What motivates you to invest?
Some people desire financial freedom so that they can retire whenever they wish.
Others wish to increase their fortune in order to leave a legacy (inheritance) to their offspring.
Others invest so that they might create the company of their dreams.
You must first choose your investment objectives.
Turn your financial goals into concrete objectives once you've defined them. A SMART goal is a goal that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Make a budget and decide how much money you'd like to put into it
Now, consider your investment objectives.
Now that you know what you want to achieve, you should go on to the following step: making a budget.
Unfortunately, many people start looking at ways to invest money in the UAE before they've finished this vital phase.
Financial advisers frequently propose the 50:30:20 rule for budgeting, which states that you should spend 50% of your income on necessities, 30% on discretionary expenditure, and the remaining 20% on savings and investments.
Select a formula that best suites you
Begin with a Cash Reserve
You should study how to create an emergency fund before choosing on the finest investments (where to put your money).
An emergency fund is money set aside to cover unanticipated and unforeseen expenses such as job loss, medical emergencies, natural disasters, and urgent repairs, among other things.
If you begin investing without an emergency fund, you may find yourself liquidating your investments in the event of a financial disaster (a terrible situation). This will inevitably have an effect on all of your long-term financial objectives.
Put six months' worth of living costs aside in a savings account, money market account, or money market mutual fund.
The ease of access (liquidity) rather than the profitability of emergency reserves is the most important element. Put your emergency money in a safe place where you can get to them only if (and only if) an emergency arises.
Take a Long-Term Approach to Investment
When looking for the greatest UAE investment options, it's critical to keep your long-term investing objectives in mind.
Those that invest with a short-term, quick-profit attitude almost often burn themselves out.
However, there is a distinction to be made here between investing and saving. Savings, fixed deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts are not considered investments.
What exactly do you need to know about investing in the UAE?
Here are five UAE investment options that all savvy investors should be aware of.
Put six months' worth of living costs aside in a savings account, money market account, or money market mutual fund.
The ease of access (liquidity) rather than the profitability of emergency reserves is the most important element. Put your emergency money in a safe place where you can get to them only if (and only if) an emergency arises.
UAE Investment Opportunities: 5 Ways to Invest in the United Arab Emirates
Here are five UAE investment options that all savvy investors should be aware of.
Stocks
Individual and institutional investors can own stocks, which are a share of a company's capital.
When you buy stock in a corporation, you are buying a piece of the company. Stock ownership can be used to produce money in two ways:
- Dividends: The majority of corporations choose to distribute a portion of their net income to shareholders as dividends. A dividend is the term for this portion. The corporation will give you a dividend based on how many shares you own. Dividends are usually paid every three months by most firms.
- Stock price appreciation: The appeal of stocks for our purposes (long-term investing) is the rise in their worth (as measured by the stock price) over a lengthy period of time. You have gained AED90 if you purchased a company's stock for AED60 in 2010 and it is now worth AED150.
Bonds
A bond is a debt instrument that governments and corporate companies use to raise money. For our purpose, there are three types of bonds:
- Corporate bonds: Company issuances
- Treasury (national) bonds: Federal government issuances
- Municipal bonds: Local government, state, city, and local community issuances
Bonds can be used to produce money in two ways:
- Interest payments are made twice a year to bondholders by bond issuers. Bonds, unlike stocks, have a set interest rate.
- Bond value appreciation: When the value of a bond rises, you can profit. Your bond's value (which was issued at a higher interest rate) grows as the interest rate falls and new bonds are issued at lower interest rates. When the stock market falls, many individuals switch to bonds, which causes bond prices to rise.
Bonds are often issued for a long time period.
Mutual Funds
Stocks and bonds can also be purchased through mutual funds for individuals who don't have the time or ability to examine the stock market (which is most of us).
Under the supervision of a fund manager, a mutual fund combines money from numerous individual participants and invests it in stocks, bonds, and other fixed-income assets.
Mutual funds provide diversification by combining a significant sum of money from many different investors. This allows them to invest in a wider range of companies.
Mutual funds create money in a variety of ways.
- Dividends/interest: When mutual funds purchase stocks or bonds that pay dividends or interest, the dividends or interest are distributed to the mutual funds' shareowners based on the number of shares held.
- Appreciation in the value of the mutual fund: A mutual fund's price rises in tandem with the value of the equities and bonds it owns. In addition, when demand for a mutual fund grows, so does its price.
The value of a mutual fund's share price increases as the fund grows.
ETFs
For today's passive investors, ETFs are the go-to funds.
ETFs have been one of the most popular financial vehicles for diversification during the last decade. Simply put, an investor who owns a share of an ETF gains the ability to purchase many stocks or bonds inside that basket.
RIETs
You can invest in REITs if you want to get some of the benefits of the UAE real estate market without the risks of buying homes (real estate investment trusts).
REITs are equities of firms that buy real estate properties (Equity REITs) or lend money to real estate investors (Mortgage REITs) (Mortgage REITs).
REITs can be bought and sold just like any other stock. Rather than purchasing and managing properties, investors hold the stock of corporations that invest in the market (including mortgage lenders).
Dividends and appreciation in the REIT's price are how REITs make money. They frequently provide regular dividends (indeed, REITs pay out the majority of their profits as dividends), providing investors with a steady stream of income.
Conclusion
The best time to begin your investment journey is now, due to compounding's rapid effects. Dhanguard can assist you in constructing an investment portfolio that is tailored to your personal profile and investment objectives.
Dhanguard is able to offer low costs and an excellent track record of maximizing returns because to modern financial technologies and our concentration on the passive approach to investing in UAE.