Is this salary OK for Abu Dhabi

[Expectingfirstbaby]

My partner has recently been offered a salary of 50k dirhams per month for a job in Abu Dhabi. The company will sponsor him, myself, and our child. Also included is medical, dental, and one flight back to the UK per year.

But housing and education aren't included.

Is that enough money to move out there? We'd enjoy living in the Middle East but it would also need to make financial sense and we'd be looking to use the experience to save as much as possible to buy a house in the UK.

Any advice on how much british expat schools and housing are would be much appreciated, plus any other costs like energy bills for AC. And just generally a feel for what people think of that salary package.

It's not enough to both live a lavish life and save, but it's a decent enough salary to be able to do one or the other. Live in an apartment not a villa, in an area like Reem or Al Reef rather than Saadiyat or the Corniche.

Not sure how old your DC is, but nursery is much cheaper than nursery in the U.K. and the most expensive British school in AD is 69k a year for pre-prep.

Most employers are phasing out school and housing allowances, it's a completely different landscape to even 5 years ago.

@Somewhereoverthepacific I work in strategic marketing, and my role is 100% wfh. My salary is £50k. I'd be looking to keep the same job because of the flexibility it gives me as a parent.

@losingit31 yep we'd be looking to rent the house.

If you can keep your job but work from AD (the time difference can be a pain: +3 now but +4 from next week), rent out your house and are prepared to live reasonably (middle ground between frugal and extravagant, i.e. like normal people!) then I would go for it.

@losingit31 ok thanks for the advice 👍

Employer may not accept that due to the tax nightmare it creates.

Then how much will swPoti a btl mortgage cost? You pay tax on rental income not profit- there is an allowance but at basic rate . you need to meet the rental affordability

ie a £434 a month btl mortgage for a rental of £2000 a month just meets affordability for a higher rate tax payer

Find an employer that will let you take IT equipment there or pay their additional tax liabilities for doing that seems unlikely

to add
my employer website has access blocked from Dubai. Security risks

Great point, I'll need to go back to my employer and see what's possible. It's a global company and they have an office in AD so maybe there's a possibility of transferring out there.

I would concur that tax issues might preclude you from wfh for your current employer overseas - I met with problems when we relocated to Belgium for a few years despite my DH being on a military posting and the UK being in the EU at that time. Many friends in similar situations have found themselves unable to work remotely overseas, even the freelancers. There might now be work-arounds but do not just assume that it would be straightforward.

How old are your kids . I had three - two in secondary and one in primary - could have got by on that salary but wouldn't have been able to live the way I want and wouldn't have been able to save

@chopc just the one baby, she's coming up to 3 months old. If we moved the middle east we'd want it to be for a fair bit - 5+ years, so then things like education costs will come into it. We might also have another child in a few years.

I think one small child - you will be OK on that salary. Look there are plenty of people who earn a lot less and live comfortably but they don't tend to be westerners. I haven't lived j AD but in Dubai you can spend everything you earn. It is such a vibrant city - really is like they have taken the hot spots from around the world and made copies in Dubai. You can eat out somewhere different every day and still not get through all the eateries...... so many amazing beach clubs but there are membership schemes such an privilee. We were there for 7 years and decided to save the money we would have paid in tax so lived well beyond our means . We came back to UK as I wanted the kids to finish their education in private schools here and we were running out of time to do that and we have done well with our savings.

Would have loved to have gone when I had nursery aged kids so I could have spent longer there as I loved the lifestyle

You can join the Facebook group called British mums dubai or British expats dubai and ask the question .... people will give you more up to date info

I'd explore a transfer to the AD office. If you can earn the figures are likely to add up. I still wouldn't be expecting to be saving masses more but you can have a decent (non-excessive) life and save.

Bit confused about a company that doesn't allow access to data in Dubai though (unless GDPR related or maybe defence?). Data security levels are ultimately down to the company's security systems. My company is pretty hot on data security and I can work (temporarily) in pretty much every country in the world, and the ones I can't work in aren't because of data security issues.

The tax point is a real point though, particularly with corporate income tax coming in in Dubai (although seems unlikely to impact this sort of relationship at the moment).

With the middle east its up to you how you live. If you make some compromises like apartment but not villa, live sensibly in a reasonable area, keep your job you should be fine. If you like shopping, going out a lot etc etc yup you can blow through 50k quickly. If you are happy to go to the park, cook at home buy clothes from reasonably priced places etc whilst having 2 jobs and good bonuses you can save a decent wodge. It is a lot more expensive though than what you may expect though. Do a shopping basket on an on-line grocery store, check out the property website look at nurseries and check things like hours etc. where I am full days aren’t available.

DH doesn’t earn loads but has a decent bonus opportunity which is the big difference for us, we still put away a few K in a normal month and once Dd is old enough for company school fee payments to start we’ll be better off again.

Another vote on the tax issues of you continuing to work for your UK employer, while abroad. You also need to consider you'll need immigration status, your DP can sponsor you for residence (if you are legally married) but if you wish to work you will need a work permit so will need a UAE employer to sponsor you. The UAE did introduce a remote working visa a while back which allows you to work in the UAE for a foreign employer, but if memory serves it limits to 12 months only.

The salary is OK, but without housing / utilities being covered, IMO you'll not be in a position to save.. while packages are changing in the GCC region it's still relatively common place for classic expat benefits to be included. The cost of living is very high so do look into the numbers..

Did you go and was it enough? keen to know

How's it going OP?