It’s time to become that expat who is great with money
Join my Financial Transformation Program now to learn all about how to plan, save and invest by yourself as an expat. Broad, deep, engaging, supportive and relentlessly practical. We will give you everything you need to optimise your money now and build a big investment portfolio to support your future. Beginners welcome, in the UAE, Saudi and beyond.
“When I signed up I wasn’t sure how ‘transformative’ FTP could truly be, however I’ve come out of the program with a totally new approach to my finances. I feel empowered by what I learnt and confident to act on it I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.” – C, UK expat in East Africa
Serious saving made simple, practical and memorable...
...with all the useful details nobody else bothers with
500 expats learning about Financial Independence – now you can too!
Saving Made Simple
Learn how you can save and invest quickly, cheaply and flexibly, so you can get on with living a fantastic life.
Saving requires a bit of discipline, which is much easier when you know why you are saving and how much you will need. Investing sounds complicated and an entire industry wants you to think it is. But investing sensibly can be very simple, especially in the age of global index funds.
The hardest thing will be investing regularly while ignoring all the chatter from your mind and the media. Your brain wasn’t designed to deal with stock market swings, so get it out of the way and stick to the rules. We’ll show you how to do that too.
If you’re bored by personal finance books and numbed by numbers, this is the place for you.
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Blog: latest posts

Updated! The Unbiased Guide to Expat Investing
Discover how to invest in stock and bond funds (ETFs) as an expat – cheaply, quickly and sensibly. Maximise your saving power while you work abroad!

How to tame your monkey mind – the psychology of saving & investing
You have to train your brain to accept that yes, you will become great with money, you will stick to the path and you won’t let your monkey mind get in the way.

Are you a Dragon sitting on your pile of cash?
Dragons love to sit on their big pile of cash, gold and property. But their excess cash gets eroded by inflation and they miss out on stock market growth.

Interactive Brokers – local AED transfers are finally here!
At last it’s possible to fund your Interactive Brokers account in dirhams with a free and quick local transfer. You may still face some initial challenges though.
Back-pay your UK National Insurance contributions asap
Many people have been nervous of using Interactive Brokers because the company is based in the US. It has clarified estate tax and fund/ETF domicile issues on record in the past few days, so I wanted to pass the info on to you and reassure you.

Interactive Brokers – Death & Estate Tax Update
Many people have been nervous of using Interactive Brokers because the company is based in the US. It has clarified estate tax and fund/ETF domicile issues on record in the past few days, so I wanted to pass the info on to you and reassure you.
Blog: Investing (funds, ETFs, brokers, currencies & transfers)

Interactive Brokers – local AED transfers are finally here!
At last it’s possible to fund your Interactive Brokers account in dirhams with a free and quick local transfer. You may still face some initial challenges though.
Back-pay your UK National Insurance contributions asap
Many people have been nervous of using Interactive Brokers because the company is based in the US. It has clarified estate tax and fund/ETF domicile issues on record in the past few days, so I wanted to pass the info on to you and reassure you.

Interactive Brokers – Death & Estate Tax Update
Many people have been nervous of using Interactive Brokers because the company is based in the US. It has clarified estate tax and fund/ETF domicile issues on record in the past few days, so I wanted to pass the info on to you and reassure you.
Blog: Planning (mindset, current situation, future needs)

Tired of Your Job?
You may be wondering if you should quit your job. Here are some common reasons:
– You’re bored
– The work is too demanding and stressful
– The work environment is toxic
– You’ve received a better offer elsewhere (but what if…)
– You want to move back home/elsewhere
– You can afford to stop work and be financially independent aka ‘retired’

Resilience: coping with the unexpected loss of people, jobs & investments
The sudden loss of a person//job/investment that’s been a constant in your life can leave you feeling untethered and vulnerable. How can you anchor yourself and those around you in advance?

Could inflation be good for you? Or hit you harder than others?
Is there any silver lining when it comes to inflation? For some people, maybe there is. Let’s have a look at who will benefit and who will get squeezed…
Blog: Saving (income, expenses, debt, cash)

Are you facing a fixed-rate loan disaster?
If the fixed period on your mortgage will expire in the next 1-2 years, or you are considering a new loan, act now or face a big increase!

When your bank is suddenly no longer your friend
Everything in these real-life stories of debt, uncooperative banks, job loss and pain is fully preventable. That’s why spreading basic financial literacy is so important.

Card fraud – protect yourself now
As if we don’t have enough to worry about these days, card fraud cases have been growing rapidly in the past year. Whenever I see it mentioned on a facebook group, there are 20-30 other people joining in with their own stories of fear and frustration.
Don’t let this happen to you. Here are some simple steps you can take to protect yourself.
Blog: Troubleshooting & terrible savings plans

What to do if your nest egg is locked up in a savings plan
Reader question – what to do if you find yourself trapped in a long-term savings plan.
Having invested into equity and bond funds over the last two years I can no longer put money regularly into my savings plan. I have some US$100,000 invested. What should I do?

Expert opinion: is it safe yet to get a savings plan in the UAE?
This is a great article from Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence featuring us and many other voices of reason in the UAE market. It discusses some of the problems with the selling of personal savings plans here and why there is reason for cautious optimism about the future.

5 reasons why you should never invest in a long-term offshore savings plan
Financial advisors are often trying to get expats to invest in long-term savings plans. They sound good in theory but 99% of the time they are completely inappropriate. You will probably either make unimpressive gains or lose money. So just say no and tell your friends to say no too. Here’s why. Almost no financial advisor on commission is going to tell you this, which is why I have to.
It’s time to become that expat who is great with money
Join my Financial Transformation Program now to learn all about how to plan, save and invest by yourself as an expat. Broad, deep, engaging, supportive and relentlessly practical. We will give you everything you need to optimise your money now and build a big investment portfolio to support your future. Beginners welcome, in the UAE, Saudi and beyond.
“When I signed up I wasn’t sure how ‘transformative’ FTP could truly be, however I’ve come out of the program with a totally new approach to my finances. I feel empowered by what I learnt and confident to act on it I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.” – C, UK expat in East Africa
