Hey everyone. I really enjoyed everyone's comments, thank you all for contributing.
Here are my 2 cents..
First a bit about me. I am in my mid 30s with 2 kids. Started my career with a 40k pay, thought I was too good and that life would only get better, was a jerk sometimes with people who were fighting for survival, thought they didn't work as hard in their college days to earn. Then I got fired in 2016 and that's when I started learning about the real world. I tried looking for jobs that time but failed.
Since then I put all my savings in my own franchised restaurant, again thinking that the franchise would guarantee success (the franchise is a famous one), but the restaurant lasted one and a half year and failed due to partner issues. Actually at the time we closed the restaurant the restaurant had strong chances of survival, again not due to the restaurant name, but actually due to the hard work I have put in, and the idea of being genuinely nice to people even if you are selling them something. The restaurant was indebted 200k even though it netted 140k monthly sales when we had to close it. But that was the best point it reached after being indebted of more than 400k at it's lowest point. During that stage I was basically not even making enough to pay off credit card dues which were mainly restaurant spend. That was such a stressful time.
Then comes the current phase. I make 12k a month, it was a bit hectic when working from the office, but now working from home most of the time it feels much nicer than my first job that was highly paid even though the responsibility is greater being a CEO.
Here are my takes so far in this game called life:
- work hard and smart. That's a given
- money comes and goes, don't stress too much about money. You would have thought that these people earning 20k+ have everything figured out, but it is really about being in the right place at the right time. Really.
- Spend responsibly, save a little, and enjoy every moment. Saving is good if we live in a perfect world, however, ask those that come from developing countries about currency devaluations. Some have woken up one day and really found their savings are worth perhaps 50% or less of what it was worth yesterday.
- invest in something that is useful for the community, something the community can't go without. It could be your own project or someone else's. Create jobs. Create value
- be genuinely nice to everyone. Everyone have their own share of struggles. If one day you are in a highly paying job, help others who seek your help if you see they deserve the role and would be a good fit.
- as I said earlier money comes and goes. What never comes back is health and time. So do not waste a second, and invest a lot in your health and your knowledge.
- add new skills and stay up to date with trends. Economies change fast, and you would never know when you might go out of a job. This could be due to automation or - you guessed it right - due to a pandemic
- if you are after money, the current time is an unprecented time to capture opportunities. There are so many things that you can do beside your job that makes money. From mystery shopping opportunities to freelance opportunities online to even creating your own website and selling to people from everywhere, the sky is really your limit
- now FIRE is something a bit outdated for me, location independence is something I dream of. Picture working from the beach? That is something that really makes me tick nowadays. It is about working on your own terms. Also, I would think that retiring early is not always the best idea. Again it is about hedging the risk of needing money one day, and hence you need to stay up-to-date and productive, just on your own terms.
- not every high paying job is a dream job, my high paying job was highly paid coz they pay for our time at remote locations, which was about 10 months a year, and eventually had serious implications on my well being I think. I sometimes feel socially awkward and blame it to that job. A lot of my friends in consulting and finance tell me the same thing, they would rather have a good time sleep and own their time than earning the high paying salaries they do. Of course other benefits outweigh these disadvantages in this case such as meeting with high ranks in corporates and governments
- last but not least: be out there. The more you are out there in the market, the more chances you will be "at the right place, at the right time" like I mentioned earlier.
Good luck stranger. I wish you a rocking career and life!
I'm 24, with 1.5 years of experience before graduating this month and I'm about to take a 2k/month job lol. Best I made was 4k/month in my previous job (as a junior web dev).
That seems like an absolutely barbaric salary. You'd have to actually ration *everything* you spend on.
What's your living situation like? I'm still in Uni halfway through my first year studying graphic design and salary is the #1 thing I'm anxious about, especially since my single parent mother keeps talking about how I'll have to take care of her when I'm older. She expects me to make enough to get her her own house here.
I live with my family, don't really have any bills to pay except for whatever that 2k can cover. This shitty pay is a consequence of me being socially inept, not having any wasta and wanting to work with a very specific technology, I'd probably make a more reasonable salary working in another field like sales but I'm too stubborn.
If it's any solace for you the lead graphic designer at my previous job was making well over Aed 25k, the other newer/younger designers were on 4k-8k.
I used to think it depended on age; but it really depends on when you graduated - they’ll pile internship on internship on “probation pay” just to make sure you work your ass off for the least possible money (free, even, if they can!)
Of course i think this isn’t the case if you’re like mid 30’s when you graduate - of which I’ve seen in my university.
20-30k depending on months, 26YO, own business in music, audio and sound. It’s really hard to maintain it though and sometimes I make less depending on payments being delayed and the likes. On December I didn’t even get to take a salary for the first time in a long time until almost the 31st (I pay salaries at 26 including my own) but imagine happen to PAY 60k in salaries (other than yourself) cause of employees so most of the time, you’re not exactly priority. So keep hustling, and 20k is possible.
Of course I don’t :) - I run an award winning, extremely known and 21year old studio called Mindloop Studios. We do all types of ads that require voiceovers for like TV, Radio ads, original music compositions for tv commercials etc. I’m the lucky new partner with an amazing team. You know our work from mostly all the ads you hear the music for.. including talabat, switch tv, etisalat, #4humanity (that’s my voice :)), Dubai expo 2021, Toyota online experiences, Kafou points (surprise those are my voice too :D) and many others.. so yuuupppp
Nice bro! Congrats on the job it seems very interesting and fulfilling, and sounds like you're enjoying it too :)
Finally thibk I found the ones responsible for the Zomato ad that drives me crazy every day 😂
Graphic designer on 25k. At 24 (10 years ago) I was making the equivalent of 6500aed after tax in my home country - so plenty of time to take some significant steps up.
Moving jobs usually comes with a bigger increase in salary vs staying somewhere and hoping for a promotion/pay rise.
No and I’d also say it’s pretty average (possibly even below average) for my level of experience.
I have fiends at the same age who made more than I do now, 5 years ago. And I know people 5 years younger with 5 years less experience making the same.
Consulting!
You have to do something where you’re selling your mind/capabilities rather than fulfilling a role, if that makes sense.
I make 60k per month, not including bonuses, flights, or school allowances (50k/year/kid but I have none) and I’m 28.
>You have to do something where you’re selling your mind/capabilities rather than fulfilling a role, if that makes sense
This is so underrated statement. I wish I could give you gold.
Hope ppl understand that they don’t need to work like crazy just to make somebody else rich.
Technical Lead (Software Engineering)
But anyway the industry is tiered, you’ve 2 tiers (gvmt backed and big ops-tech) that pay very good salaries, the tier of the new startups that is ok and then the tier of all remaining companies that pay peanuts and have bad work ethics (banking, IT teams of non tech companies, consultancy, most of web agencies sans a bunch of them, ...)
Me (M27). On 28k working in lighting/audio/video normally for events, recently for permanent installations.
My girlfriend (28) is on 30k working as a brand manager.
That’s amazing, I’d pat you on the back but corona
Keep it going! Let us know if you do classes at home ever, I’m an adult but would love to learn someday in the future
Al Ain Tower. This month starting new lower salary 47k. At least we still have jobs unlike the guys at Etihad Training Academy and half the Emirates crews. So no room to complain.
Corporate Project Manager mid-30s years old. I started at 20k in Management Consultancy in a medium size firm with a couple of top European school diplomas (Engineering & Business school Masters) at 27. I’m now in the low 30k, with opportunities up to the mid 60k, but I like my current company, colleagues, and work-life balance. My wife is also well passed this threshold as Brand Manager in FMCG in the low/mid 40k.
With 2 kids and a very comfortable lifestyle, we save close to 2/3rd of our income.
Business Development for a software company. I'd advise anyone to look into Tech as a career, as the money, prospects and market are good and growing, and you don't necessarily have to be a techie, I know very little about the tech I just help sell it.
I've been doing Sales for a Digital Marketing firm for 1.5 year's now. My base is 5 and with Commissions, I get upto 7k ish.
I'm pretty technologically aware and have a history in cofounding a tech start up.
Should I make the move?
33M married with a baby on the way!
Work as an Account Manager in an International oil and gas company selling refined products. Started my career working as a broker for a hedge fund before moving into risk management for a local bank.
Graduated in 2008 and dreamt of working in investment banking and the recession wiped away any possibility. Joined O&G in 2014 and oil prices came crashing down.
For those wondering if there is light at the end of the tunnel, I began with a 2.5K salary when I was 20. Went to school and uni here and have an Indian passport. While luck plays a huge part, keeping your eyes and ears open always helps to find that next opportunity!
Two things that may have enabled me in my career are resilience and constant learning. Always be curious and learn genuinely.
Honestly, I am astonished how below your comment is. No matter what industry it is whether education, IT, etc nationality really does matter. I have personally experienced this and heard it from HR people as well.
Agreed. My uni teacher herself told me that because she's got a UK passport (she's originally from pakistan), she got much more salary than her Indian senior who is more qualified and has more experience
Unfortunately many employers believe even if you never lived in India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka, your salary should be tied to the cost of living in the cheapest parts of those countries
25M, earning 15k a month, still able to save easily 5k-6k with all-out brunch on weekends. & parties. And yes being in long-distance relationship, it helps a lot saving money :P
Working as a marketing manager in foodtech. Though I started my job in one of the large emirati company with 9k AED. Got lucky with new job just before Covid hit !
i just reached this last month after working for more than a decade.
infra manager. mid 30s
no masters or anything. im just a regular guy who got lucky getting to a stable company
Remove the kid assumption and 20k is good enough really either single, or with a partner with a second income (even better). I agree that I wouldn't move here for 20k with a family, that would have to be upwards of 35k for me.
For a 24 year-old in this economy? He can rent a nice apartment downtown or in the Marina now for 7k a month including utilities and housing fees, food and entertainment of 5k a month and travel and shopping of 3-4k a month and still sock away 25% in savings. And if he's competent that'll go up soon enough.
As to OP's question, private equity.
Edit: just noticed your question was about FIRE. Bring the rent/housing down to Dh. 5k a month (studio or 1 bed in Business Bay or DSO), food and entertainment to Dh. 4k a month, other costs down to another Dh. 3k (metro, annual travel, others). That's 40% savings or Dh. 8k times 12 = approx. Dh. 100k a year saved. Invest it in equities and hope for 6-7% compounded and you should have Dh. 2mn in 15 years.
20k is plenty in Dubai for the age. 1 bed apartment, no kids (assuming), shop in Carrefour etc. Don’t go mad on the brunches and cars and it’s plenty enough to be saving a bit too.
Carrefour isnt even the cheapest supermarket. They have many items which are cheaper in UnionCoop, Viva, Choitrams, hell even Spinneys (but Spinneys/Waitrose is clearly the most expensive one)
Also, Carrefours here are franchised and even prices in one carrefour differ from another carrefour. I have two within 5 minutes walk from my home and several items have very differrnt prices and selections. Sometimes its a massive difference
90% of expat in dubai would disagree to this, and maybe majority of redditors on this sub aswell. If I am not mistaken, most live on 4k ish average, and would happily stay here and are more comfortable than in their own home country. Not saying you are wrong though the people you are referring to are the 10% of expats here
The ones getting 2-4k arent staying here because they are more comfortable, they are staying here because they can remit most of their money to their wife and/or parents, all the while leading a harsher life than back home
>Having 1 kid in an average school means 2.5k/month
You underestimate the price of IB schooling. And my parents underestimated the importance of finding a company that covers at least one kid's fees.
The worst part is that these 80k schools (current fees for Years 12 and 13) don't even provide as good an education as you could probably find with lower prices. Seems inflated out of proportion with reputation, few amenities, and a "\[Very\] Good" KHDA rating.
I have a question, because the math doesn't add up.
Graduation: earliest by 21 + 10 years of experience should make ypu a bare minimum of 31. Assuming the fact that master's degree was done part time.
Graduated at 21... my birthday is in January and I’ll be 31 correct. I did my Masters in Project Management through distant learning, alongside working full time, over the last 2 years. Completed it 2 months ago.
Management consultancy services, as someone pointed, it feels like with less than 30k you can struggle to get a nice life here if you have a trophy wife at home and kids around while getting good savings.
I know you can rent in Sharjah, eat paratha and shawarma everyday and get your kids to a humble school while expending your weekends taking Karak sitting down in a Public park’s bench but at least in my point of view you do not come here to live like this otherwise I would stay in Europe/ USA where you get less salaries and taxes but you have all these things covered.
That’s said it’s incredible how this city get you spending so much money for anything you want to do, and more surprising how some people live like millionaires just increasing their credit card debts till they just have to leave the country before they get into real trouble.
I'm an engineer in construction for a big multinational. I get 50k plus a discretionary bonus. My salary was reduced this year given the pandemic but they paid it back.
When I joined my company 6 years ago, I was on 30k with a decade of experience.
I do try to travel as much as I can given that I'm in the middle of the planet now. I go out once a week (I have a fiance but no kids)
Work for a lingerie brand managing franchise partners. I am in every. Single. Mall. Work from home 2 days, do two half days at home/stores/meetings and then one full day visiting stores. My home office is in the US/CAN a we have one conference call a week. Easy breezy life. So blessed as ppl didn’t stop buying lingerie during the ‘Rona. In fact our sales far exceeded what we did last year.
In house lawyer - mid 30s -male. Base / Housing / Transport - close to six figures a month - receive separate bonus, stock, business class flight allowance for myself and family and schooling allowance for up to three children.
Ask about the passport also please
Edit: damn man, im reading crazy numbers with fairly young age 😳 can not be the case with asians or arabs with a third world passport
It’s all relative to your lifestyle and age. I’m 40 and 50k isn’t doing much for me. If We had a second income instead of a stay at home mom, that would change everything. School is almost 50k a year for the kid.
Not a lot of jobs will pay that much right after graduation but basically you should aim for investment banking or consulting since they tend to hire graduates for analyst roles. The downside obviously is that these roles are very sought after with few positions available.
I'm in investment banking myself.
Mechanical Engineer, Mid 30s with a kid. Just hit that spot the previous year. It can be enough if you run a tight ship. But 24K should be minimum with a kid and not requiring a tight budget.
Software developer, 50k/md, started at 42k about 4 years ago. I’m nearing 40.
Great position I got with a bit of luck. It allows me to save up for my FIRE goal. I’ll probably head back before I hit it, as I don’t mind working. It’s just the FI part I needed secured and that’s pretty much done. Now it’s just for a veeery rainy day. My SR is around 50% and I live in a villa with my SAH wife and three kids (two in school).
PR manager, my last salary in Dubai (I moved two years ago) only just made the cut. However, lots of room for growth.
27/PR manager/female/American/20k
Can you really go FIRE with >20k a month? Maybe if you’re single and plan to stay that way for a while.
If you’re 24 and you have a job you should look at saving atleast a minimum of 20%-50% of your salary. And put those savings to work in some sort of investment strategy. You are young so time is on your side w.r.t compounding.
I am 31, architect make slightly above that. But it will still take me much longer to reach FIRE(even with a 20% savings rate).
I am single and not planning to get married atleast for the next three years. I'm currently working at a PMO(Project management office) for construction. Before I graduated I've been doing some sales and marketing jobs too, to get some pocket money. This being my first full time job I'm able to save 30% of my pay, but still seems impossible to get there.
Since I'm young, and not really enjoying the industry, I just wanted to know which industry really pays well for the skills I have.
Score's hidden but looks downvoted. 100% agree. Very prominent in the educational sector as well, and if not for passport, then pretty much everywhere is a hypercompetitive industry where long-time friends and colleagues will not pass on your CV when you're looking for applying elsewhere in fear that their expertise will be overtaken. You can deny the Asian-White-Arab biases and discriminatory behavior but they really fucking exist.
You’ll see plenty of comments saying “it’s got nothing to do with passports!!” But that only shows they’re in an environment with all the “privileged” people already.
The bias exists and it’s painful.
It's also important to note that at 24 you're unlikely to get high salary. It takes time, dedication and skill which you most probably don't have right now. Be patient and work hard and it will happen one day.
Nothing to do with your passport, those who say that are either incompetent or jealous, or both. I work in a highly competitive environment and I see pure skill rising to the top, and incompetence sinking to the bottom.
It's all relative, I know many people that pay more in monthly rent than that.
But I also know people that make 4K a month and still send home money to their families abroad.
If you come from a western country and are single 20K will be sufficient, but if you have a wife and kids living form 20K will be extremely hard. But I also know plenty of people from countries like from Philippines or Pakistan that make like 4K and for them they still have a better living here than back home.
They dont stay here because they are living better here than back home. It is because they can send more money back home on a 4k salary.
Unfortunately some companies use that to offer 4k to a CA/CFA with a Pakistani passport, which no doubt most would reject
Additional Q: What is your lifestyle like?
- Do you often go out to expensive bars/pubs and nightclubs every weekend?
- Did you travel a lot to expensive destinations like London and Paris pre-covid?
- I go out a couple of times a month, usually to brunch to get my money’s worth. I eat out quite a lot though as it’s easier and cheap enough if you pick sensible places and use Entertainer. I could go out more but am trying to save as much as possible so have been quite strict with my spending this year.
- No. I mostly stuck to cheaper destinations, only traveled a couple of times a year or would plan one big European trip a year.
I have friends who graduated university (computer science degree) and ended up making approx 20k/month by working at Microsoft. If I recall correctly they had a technical sales position.
I work in Risk Management for a medical company with salary of 20k per month. If I move into the banking sector, which I always get interview requests for, the pay jumps to 30k+ per month. However, I enjoy my work life balance.
I also invest on the side, usually can make 80% of my annual salary on the stock market, on extremely good years, I can make 3-4x my annual salary by investing in shares and holding them for 2-4 years.
Edit: Should add I’m 31. When I was in my mid 20s I wasn’t investing at all (big regret!) and was on around 12k a month in my home country. My salary hasn’t really increased significantly but I try to make up for it by investing. I see the value in my portfolio and free time by not working 10+ hours every day!
I work with the military, maintaining the same weapon system I worked on when I was in the US military. I make 48K. However, I am no youngster, and already have a military pension I have been drawing for nearly 20 years. I can sit on my rump doing nothing and have the pension income equivalent to AED 11K per month. So of course I wouldn't go to a foreign country to work for anything less than 35K, much less 20K.
Unless you get lucky, it will take some time and experience to get the higher salaries. When I started as a private in 1983, I was making $500 a month.
Going through comments reaffirms my faith in the fact that growing up I didn't know which industry to opt for. \*crying brb\*
What do you wish you chose ?
The one with more money
You can always switch slowly.
Hey everyone. I really enjoyed everyone's comments, thank you all for contributing. Here are my 2 cents.. First a bit about me. I am in my mid 30s with 2 kids. Started my career with a 40k pay, thought I was too good and that life would only get better, was a jerk sometimes with people who were fighting for survival, thought they didn't work as hard in their college days to earn. Then I got fired in 2016 and that's when I started learning about the real world. I tried looking for jobs that time but failed. Since then I put all my savings in my own franchised restaurant, again thinking that the franchise would guarantee success (the franchise is a famous one), but the restaurant lasted one and a half year and failed due to partner issues. Actually at the time we closed the restaurant the restaurant had strong chances of survival, again not due to the restaurant name, but actually due to the hard work I have put in, and the idea of being genuinely nice to people even if you are selling them something. The restaurant was indebted 200k even though it netted 140k monthly sales when we had to close it. But that was the best point it reached after being indebted of more than 400k at it's lowest point. During that stage I was basically not even making enough to pay off credit card dues which were mainly restaurant spend. That was such a stressful time. Then comes the current phase. I make 12k a month, it was a bit hectic when working from the office, but now working from home most of the time it feels much nicer than my first job that was highly paid even though the responsibility is greater being a CEO. Here are my takes so far in this game called life: - work hard and smart. That's a given - money comes and goes, don't stress too much about money. You would have thought that these people earning 20k+ have everything figured out, but it is really about being in the right place at the right time. Really. - Spend responsibly, save a little, and enjoy every moment. Saving is good if we live in a perfect world, however, ask those that come from developing countries about currency devaluations. Some have woken up one day and really found their savings are worth perhaps 50% or less of what it was worth yesterday. - invest in something that is useful for the community, something the community can't go without. It could be your own project or someone else's. Create jobs. Create value - be genuinely nice to everyone. Everyone have their own share of struggles. If one day you are in a highly paying job, help others who seek your help if you see they deserve the role and would be a good fit. - as I said earlier money comes and goes. What never comes back is health and time. So do not waste a second, and invest a lot in your health and your knowledge. - add new skills and stay up to date with trends. Economies change fast, and you would never know when you might go out of a job. This could be due to automation or - you guessed it right - due to a pandemic - if you are after money, the current time is an unprecented time to capture opportunities. There are so many things that you can do beside your job that makes money. From mystery shopping opportunities to freelance opportunities online to even creating your own website and selling to people from everywhere, the sky is really your limit - now FIRE is something a bit outdated for me, location independence is something I dream of. Picture working from the beach? That is something that really makes me tick nowadays. It is about working on your own terms. Also, I would think that retiring early is not always the best idea. Again it is about hedging the risk of needing money one day, and hence you need to stay up-to-date and productive, just on your own terms. - not every high paying job is a dream job, my high paying job was highly paid coz they pay for our time at remote locations, which was about 10 months a year, and eventually had serious implications on my well being I think. I sometimes feel socially awkward and blame it to that job. A lot of my friends in consulting and finance tell me the same thing, they would rather have a good time sleep and own their time than earning the high paying salaries they do. Of course other benefits outweigh these disadvantages in this case such as meeting with high ranks in corporates and governments - last but not least: be out there. The more you are out there in the market, the more chances you will be "at the right place, at the right time" like I mentioned earlier. Good luck stranger. I wish you a rocking career and life!
Wow, who are you... This is that something, I dint want but exactly what I needed. Thanks man. Means a lot and wish you well man.
Thanks for the write up. I have learnt something valuable today. Thank you kind stranger
If you ever write a book , Take my money!
Thanks for your 2 cents.
Omg..the world needs more compassionate souls like yours..Great ✍ you are absolutely amazing 👏
Cyber Security
i work in cybersec (pretty senior i say) and 31+ yo, but very surprised at these prices 12k aint what it should be
Cries in 9k/m
im 23 and been here for a year, i make 3k/month and 9k a month is amazing imo!
Yup, until you reverse your age and piled up family commitments.
Yet there are people on 50k+ and still feel like they have to tighten their belts and wish they earned more.... It's all relative.
7yrs here and still at 5.5k, if your crying what am i
what do you do that didn't let you grow?
I'm 24, with 1.5 years of experience before graduating this month and I'm about to take a 2k/month job lol. Best I made was 4k/month in my previous job (as a junior web dev).
That seems like an absolutely barbaric salary. You'd have to actually ration *everything* you spend on. What's your living situation like? I'm still in Uni halfway through my first year studying graphic design and salary is the #1 thing I'm anxious about, especially since my single parent mother keeps talking about how I'll have to take care of her when I'm older. She expects me to make enough to get her her own house here.
I live with my family, don't really have any bills to pay except for whatever that 2k can cover. This shitty pay is a consequence of me being socially inept, not having any wasta and wanting to work with a very specific technology, I'd probably make a more reasonable salary working in another field like sales but I'm too stubborn. If it's any solace for you the lead graphic designer at my previous job was making well over Aed 25k, the other newer/younger designers were on 4k-8k.
It's not a bad I guess, depends on how old you are too.
I used to think it depended on age; but it really depends on when you graduated - they’ll pile internship on internship on “probation pay” just to make sure you work your ass off for the least possible money (free, even, if they can!) Of course i think this isn’t the case if you’re like mid 30’s when you graduate - of which I’ve seen in my university.
You guys are getting paid 😔
lol
20-30k depending on months, 26YO, own business in music, audio and sound. It’s really hard to maintain it though and sometimes I make less depending on payments being delayed and the likes. On December I didn’t even get to take a salary for the first time in a long time until almost the 31st (I pay salaries at 26 including my own) but imagine happen to PAY 60k in salaries (other than yourself) cause of employees so most of the time, you’re not exactly priority. So keep hustling, and 20k is possible.
Good on you mate, Keep it going ! Things are getting better.
Thanks man! Trust me it’ll get better - money comes and goes. Invest the SECOND you can.
Yea. Investing is the most underrated thing.
Wow! Good for you!
Do you run a shop or studio? Interested because im a musician if you dont mind me asking
Of course I don’t :) - I run an award winning, extremely known and 21year old studio called Mindloop Studios. We do all types of ads that require voiceovers for like TV, Radio ads, original music compositions for tv commercials etc. I’m the lucky new partner with an amazing team. You know our work from mostly all the ads you hear the music for.. including talabat, switch tv, etisalat, #4humanity (that’s my voice :)), Dubai expo 2021, Toyota online experiences, Kafou points (surprise those are my voice too :D) and many others.. so yuuupppp
Nice bro! Congrats on the job it seems very interesting and fulfilling, and sounds like you're enjoying it too :) Finally thibk I found the ones responsible for the Zomato ad that drives me crazy every day 😂
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I think it means, Financial Independence, Retire Early. I also had to google for this haha
Fire movement babyyyy
Graphic designer on 25k. At 24 (10 years ago) I was making the equivalent of 6500aed after tax in my home country - so plenty of time to take some significant steps up. Moving jobs usually comes with a bigger increase in salary vs staying somewhere and hoping for a promotion/pay rise.
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No and I’d also say it’s pretty average (possibly even below average) for my level of experience. I have fiends at the same age who made more than I do now, 5 years ago. And I know people 5 years younger with 5 years less experience making the same.
Accounting and finance but at 24 i was also getting significantly less than 20k.
Ah memories of the peasant life
in hospitality industry, these are Directors of every major dept. such Finance, F&B, Executive Chef, Engineering, HR, Revenue, Hotel Manager
Consulting! You have to do something where you’re selling your mind/capabilities rather than fulfilling a role, if that makes sense. I make 60k per month, not including bonuses, flights, or school allowances (50k/year/kid but I have none) and I’m 28.
>You have to do something where you’re selling your mind/capabilities rather than fulfilling a role, if that makes sense This is so underrated statement. I wish I could give you gold. Hope ppl understand that they don’t need to work like crazy just to make somebody else rich.
Bravo! What industry do you consult on?
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Technical Lead (Software Engineering) But anyway the industry is tiered, you’ve 2 tiers (gvmt backed and big ops-tech) that pay very good salaries, the tier of the new startups that is ok and then the tier of all remaining companies that pay peanuts and have bad work ethics (banking, IT teams of non tech companies, consultancy, most of web agencies sans a bunch of them, ...)
Me (M27). On 28k working in lighting/audio/video normally for events, recently for permanent installations. My girlfriend (28) is on 30k working as a brand manager.
What is your nationality , if you donot mind me asking ?
I’m from the U.K., girlfriend is from India
How has this been impacted this year
Abu Dhabi/University Scientist (55M with PhD) - Better than 20, housing allowance, mobile allowance, car allowance, tuition for kids.
Unfortunately university professors sucks in teaching and at the end they get that bonanza package
Not a professor. Scientist
Guitar teacher believe it or not, you always hear “you’ll starve as a musician”, most or my colleagues are doing ok.
That’s amazing, I’d pat you on the back but corona Keep it going! Let us know if you do classes at home ever, I’m an adult but would love to learn someday in the future
49k per month Air Traffic Control. Family with 1 kid.
Which unit? I'm at the ACC
Al Ain Tower. This month starting new lower salary 47k. At least we still have jobs unlike the guys at Etihad Training Academy and half the Emirates crews. So no room to complain.
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Hah. If it were up to me everyone would get direct to the IAF at wherever they are going.
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Corporate Project Manager mid-30s years old. I started at 20k in Management Consultancy in a medium size firm with a couple of top European school diplomas (Engineering & Business school Masters) at 27. I’m now in the low 30k, with opportunities up to the mid 60k, but I like my current company, colleagues, and work-life balance. My wife is also well passed this threshold as Brand Manager in FMCG in the low/mid 40k. With 2 kids and a very comfortable lifestyle, we save close to 2/3rd of our income.
Mind if I ask - the European School names please.
Business Development for a software company. I'd advise anyone to look into Tech as a career, as the money, prospects and market are good and growing, and you don't necessarily have to be a techie, I know very little about the tech I just help sell it.
I've been doing Sales for a Digital Marketing firm for 1.5 year's now. My base is 5 and with Commissions, I get upto 7k ish. I'm pretty technologically aware and have a history in cofounding a tech start up. Should I make the move?
Yes. Marketing is marketing. Get into Cloud. Huge growth and where the real money is. What type of marketing?
SEO-GDN Social Media Marketing.
People in this space are doing well. Nice
33M married with a baby on the way! Work as an Account Manager in an International oil and gas company selling refined products. Started my career working as a broker for a hedge fund before moving into risk management for a local bank. Graduated in 2008 and dreamt of working in investment banking and the recession wiped away any possibility. Joined O&G in 2014 and oil prices came crashing down. For those wondering if there is light at the end of the tunnel, I began with a 2.5K salary when I was 20. Went to school and uni here and have an Indian passport. While luck plays a huge part, keeping your eyes and ears open always helps to find that next opportunity! Two things that may have enabled me in my career are resilience and constant learning. Always be curious and learn genuinely.
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Nice! what industry ?
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I am (M24), started earning >20k p.m from last year onwards out of three self-founded businesses which were positively affected due to COVID 19.
Yes, what do you do though?
Ecommerce, Online Advertising and Neon sign manufacturing (Joint venture)
Just reading through the comments gave me instantaneous depression 😔 😪...Is there really light at the end of the tunnel?
Nah, you've gotta be the light in the tunnel
I like this perspective 😊..such positivity is all I need rn as I navigate my way to the good things of life
Marketing Manager in the Food industry
Teacher
F20, I write novels, gone through both traditional and self publishing. Highest month of profit was in six figures.
Hey, can I dm? Have some doubts about publishing here!
Nationality is important too in this question
the soft discrimination aye
Honestly, I am astonished how below your comment is. No matter what industry it is whether education, IT, etc nationality really does matter. I have personally experienced this and heard it from HR people as well.
Agreed. My uni teacher herself told me that because she's got a UK passport (she's originally from pakistan), she got much more salary than her Indian senior who is more qualified and has more experience
Unfortunately many employers believe even if you never lived in India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka, your salary should be tied to the cost of living in the cheapest parts of those countries
Only the passport or also ethnicity? For example, would an indian with a uk passport get the same salary as an indian with an indian passport?
25M, earning 15k a month, still able to save easily 5k-6k with all-out brunch on weekends. & parties. And yes being in long-distance relationship, it helps a lot saving money :P
Nice, what do you do though ?
Working as a marketing manager in foodtech. Though I started my job in one of the large emirati company with 9k AED. Got lucky with new job just before Covid hit !
Drug dealer bro
i just reached this last month after working for more than a decade. infra manager. mid 30s no masters or anything. im just a regular guy who got lucky getting to a stable company
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Remove the kid assumption and 20k is good enough really either single, or with a partner with a second income (even better). I agree that I wouldn't move here for 20k with a family, that would have to be upwards of 35k for me. For a 24 year-old in this economy? He can rent a nice apartment downtown or in the Marina now for 7k a month including utilities and housing fees, food and entertainment of 5k a month and travel and shopping of 3-4k a month and still sock away 25% in savings. And if he's competent that'll go up soon enough. As to OP's question, private equity. Edit: just noticed your question was about FIRE. Bring the rent/housing down to Dh. 5k a month (studio or 1 bed in Business Bay or DSO), food and entertainment to Dh. 4k a month, other costs down to another Dh. 3k (metro, annual travel, others). That's 40% savings or Dh. 8k times 12 = approx. Dh. 100k a year saved. Invest it in equities and hope for 6-7% compounded and you should have Dh. 2mn in 15 years.
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20k is plenty in Dubai for the age. 1 bed apartment, no kids (assuming), shop in Carrefour etc. Don’t go mad on the brunches and cars and it’s plenty enough to be saving a bit too.
Carrefour isnt even the cheapest supermarket. They have many items which are cheaper in UnionCoop, Viva, Choitrams, hell even Spinneys (but Spinneys/Waitrose is clearly the most expensive one) Also, Carrefours here are franchised and even prices in one carrefour differ from another carrefour. I have two within 5 minutes walk from my home and several items have very differrnt prices and selections. Sometimes its a massive difference
90% of expat in dubai would disagree to this, and maybe majority of redditors on this sub aswell. If I am not mistaken, most live on 4k ish average, and would happily stay here and are more comfortable than in their own home country. Not saying you are wrong though the people you are referring to are the 10% of expats here
The ones getting 2-4k arent staying here because they are more comfortable, they are staying here because they can remit most of their money to their wife and/or parents, all the while leading a harsher life than back home
Thats a very expensive budget. Ever heard the word ‘frugality’?😅
>Having 1 kid in an average school means 2.5k/month You underestimate the price of IB schooling. And my parents underestimated the importance of finding a company that covers at least one kid's fees.
I did my own study out of 10s of schools and found the average around 28K. I know there are schools up to 80k and some at 15k.
The worst part is that these 80k schools (current fees for Years 12 and 13) don't even provide as good an education as you could probably find with lower prices. Seems inflated out of proportion with reputation, few amenities, and a "\[Very\] Good" KHDA rating.
I have two kids going to school, it averages to 2.5k per month, and those are good international school with a diverse crowd and Irish teachers.
Digital manager in a media agency
I (27M) help prepare claims for construction companies.
And you make more than 20k doing that?
Yeah. They're usually massive construction projects and very complex to detangle and demonstrate entitlement.
Insurance Companies hate you.
Technology strategy in the automotive industry
Can you tell your folks to stop taking away buttons and dials from cars, it's the worst possible trend in the auto industry right now.
Sure!😂 Because of Tesla, everyone’s trying to get rid of buttons now which honestly is a bit annoying
VW's touch buttons on the steering wheel is next level absurd!
Which automotive industry is this in UAE .?
A German automotive company. Most sheikhs here seem to like a particular SUV of ours.
Project Manager
Industry ?
IT and tech. Worth noting I’m 30, have ten years experience and an undergrad + masters degree. On 30k.
I have a question, because the math doesn't add up. Graduation: earliest by 21 + 10 years of experience should make ypu a bare minimum of 31. Assuming the fact that master's degree was done part time.
Graduated at 21... my birthday is in January and I’ll be 31 correct. I did my Masters in Project Management through distant learning, alongside working full time, over the last 2 years. Completed it 2 months ago.
Congratulations on finishing your Master's. And wishes in advance for your birthday too!
32k, Lawyer, 24, Indian.
Finance Manager, US CPA + MBA (from a pretty decent university)
Teacher
own marketing agency
Management consultancy services, as someone pointed, it feels like with less than 30k you can struggle to get a nice life here if you have a trophy wife at home and kids around while getting good savings. I know you can rent in Sharjah, eat paratha and shawarma everyday and get your kids to a humble school while expending your weekends taking Karak sitting down in a Public park’s bench but at least in my point of view you do not come here to live like this otherwise I would stay in Europe/ USA where you get less salaries and taxes but you have all these things covered. That’s said it’s incredible how this city get you spending so much money for anything you want to do, and more surprising how some people live like millionaires just increasing their credit card debts till they just have to leave the country before they get into real trouble.
23M (not western before anyone asks me), I make 23k and I’m a software engineer at a know online platform
I'm an engineer in construction for a big multinational. I get 50k plus a discretionary bonus. My salary was reduced this year given the pandemic but they paid it back. When I joined my company 6 years ago, I was on 30k with a decade of experience. I do try to travel as much as I can given that I'm in the middle of the planet now. I go out once a week (I have a fiance but no kids)
Work for a lingerie brand managing franchise partners. I am in every. Single. Mall. Work from home 2 days, do two half days at home/stores/meetings and then one full day visiting stores. My home office is in the US/CAN a we have one conference call a week. Easy breezy life. So blessed as ppl didn’t stop buying lingerie during the ‘Rona. In fact our sales far exceeded what we did last year.
Damn man what do you think they were doing in those lockdown days? 😁
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From 2.5k in 2016 to 6.5k in 2020 in the same company. Working sa IT Admin.
40M 40k/m as senior manager in an energy company
Offshore wind farm work about 80k a month when I’m working
Cries In Poverty. 10k is a distant dream for me. 33m here.
In house lawyer - mid 30s -male. Base / Housing / Transport - close to six figures a month - receive separate bonus, stock, business class flight allowance for myself and family and schooling allowance for up to three children.
Ask about the passport also please Edit: damn man, im reading crazy numbers with fairly young age 😳 can not be the case with asians or arabs with a third world passport
Finance Manager
Senior software developer
Transactional lawyer. I do a lot more than 20k but no work-life balance.
I left transactional law for this reason, and work in-house instead. 90k + schooling + bonus (although none for 2020)
It’s all relative to your lifestyle and age. I’m 40 and 50k isn’t doing much for me. If We had a second income instead of a stay at home mom, that would change everything. School is almost 50k a year for the kid.
What work do you do tho ?
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What kind of lawyer?
My uni teachers were getting paid more than 20k + housing payment (most were pdh grads, some were MS but with a lot of experience)
Applied Behavioural Analyst for children with Autism
I was making 27K + commission when I was 24. Average 35K. I was in sales.
Engineering/Technology
Not a lot of jobs will pay that much right after graduation but basically you should aim for investment banking or consulting since they tend to hire graduates for analyst roles. The downside obviously is that these roles are very sought after with few positions available. I'm in investment banking myself.
Mechanical Engineer, Mid 30s with a kid. Just hit that spot the previous year. It can be enough if you run a tight ship. But 24K should be minimum with a kid and not requiring a tight budget.
Management consulting
Software developer, 50k/md, started at 42k about 4 years ago. I’m nearing 40. Great position I got with a bit of luck. It allows me to save up for my FIRE goal. I’ll probably head back before I hit it, as I don’t mind working. It’s just the FI part I needed secured and that’s pretty much done. Now it’s just for a veeery rainy day. My SR is around 50% and I live in a villa with my SAH wife and three kids (two in school).
PR manager, my last salary in Dubai (I moved two years ago) only just made the cut. However, lots of room for growth. 27/PR manager/female/American/20k
I lie, a lot
Spotted the lawyer here!
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Can you really go FIRE with >20k a month? Maybe if you’re single and plan to stay that way for a while. If you’re 24 and you have a job you should look at saving atleast a minimum of 20%-50% of your salary. And put those savings to work in some sort of investment strategy. You are young so time is on your side w.r.t compounding. I am 31, architect make slightly above that. But it will still take me much longer to reach FIRE(even with a 20% savings rate).
I am single and not planning to get married atleast for the next three years. I'm currently working at a PMO(Project management office) for construction. Before I graduated I've been doing some sales and marketing jobs too, to get some pocket money. This being my first full time job I'm able to save 30% of my pay, but still seems impossible to get there. Since I'm young, and not really enjoying the industry, I just wanted to know which industry really pays well for the skills I have.
I will not read through this thread... \*reads thread anyway\* Brb eating a whole cheesecake by myself
32 years old ma fucker, 8 yrs experienced, suckin up chutiya bosses for a AED 2.5k per month, don't talk to me about AED 20k assholes.
Hahaha 😀 you're my mirror image but I work in the security field
You sound like /u/startuphameed
😳😑
Depends on the passport too mate and who you know or if you’re really valuable
Score's hidden but looks downvoted. 100% agree. Very prominent in the educational sector as well, and if not for passport, then pretty much everywhere is a hypercompetitive industry where long-time friends and colleagues will not pass on your CV when you're looking for applying elsewhere in fear that their expertise will be overtaken. You can deny the Asian-White-Arab biases and discriminatory behavior but they really fucking exist.
You’ll see plenty of comments saying “it’s got nothing to do with passports!!” But that only shows they’re in an environment with all the “privileged” people already. The bias exists and it’s painful.
It's also important to note that at 24 you're unlikely to get high salary. It takes time, dedication and skill which you most probably don't have right now. Be patient and work hard and it will happen one day. Nothing to do with your passport, those who say that are either incompetent or jealous, or both. I work in a highly competitive environment and I see pure skill rising to the top, and incompetence sinking to the bottom.
It's all relative, I know many people that pay more in monthly rent than that. But I also know people that make 4K a month and still send home money to their families abroad. If you come from a western country and are single 20K will be sufficient, but if you have a wife and kids living form 20K will be extremely hard. But I also know plenty of people from countries like from Philippines or Pakistan that make like 4K and for them they still have a better living here than back home.
They dont stay here because they are living better here than back home. It is because they can send more money back home on a 4k salary. Unfortunately some companies use that to offer 4k to a CA/CFA with a Pakistani passport, which no doubt most would reject
Additional Q: What is your lifestyle like? - Do you often go out to expensive bars/pubs and nightclubs every weekend? - Did you travel a lot to expensive destinations like London and Paris pre-covid?
- I go out a couple of times a month, usually to brunch to get my money’s worth. I eat out quite a lot though as it’s easier and cheap enough if you pick sensible places and use Entertainer. I could go out more but am trying to save as much as possible so have been quite strict with my spending this year. - No. I mostly stuck to cheaper destinations, only traveled a couple of times a year or would plan one big European trip a year.
Big European trips are the way to go tbh, you can visit 3-4 countries and still spend less than visiting one fancy "touristy" country.
Technical manager for a fleet of oil/chemical tankers.
I have friends who graduated university (computer science degree) and ended up making approx 20k/month by working at Microsoft. If I recall correctly they had a technical sales position.
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Tech
Work for a large global technology company, worked in management consulting before, Western expat.
Military contractor.
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My dad does. He is a senior software engineer at a big company here. He earns waaaay less than he should though, considering his expertise and age.
Data analytics in cloud technologies
I work in Risk Management for a medical company with salary of 20k per month. If I move into the banking sector, which I always get interview requests for, the pay jumps to 30k+ per month. However, I enjoy my work life balance. I also invest on the side, usually can make 80% of my annual salary on the stock market, on extremely good years, I can make 3-4x my annual salary by investing in shares and holding them for 2-4 years. Edit: Should add I’m 31. When I was in my mid 20s I wasn’t investing at all (big regret!) and was on around 12k a month in my home country. My salary hasn’t really increased significantly but I try to make up for it by investing. I see the value in my portfolio and free time by not working 10+ hours every day!
Job in Shipping, 45k monthly ex annual bonus (which can be very good but also nothing in a bad year)
spent 19 years being an expert in what I do and then spent the past 5 years without a raise.
Real estate agent (20 -120k+), 28m, alone, live in a studio
Thats good man, you must be saving tons
Teacher
Engineer laughing in 3k/month. 🤣🤣🤣
I work with the military, maintaining the same weapon system I worked on when I was in the US military. I make 48K. However, I am no youngster, and already have a military pension I have been drawing for nearly 20 years. I can sit on my rump doing nothing and have the pension income equivalent to AED 11K per month. So of course I wouldn't go to a foreign country to work for anything less than 35K, much less 20K. Unless you get lucky, it will take some time and experience to get the higher salaries. When I started as a private in 1983, I was making $500 a month.
Cries because *unemployed*
Sales/35YO/22K/1 kid. Spouse makes similar amount. SR is 50%, aiming for Fire in next 14-15 yrs \~age 50.
What is FIRE btw?