Nearly 45 per cent of employees in the UAE have no plans to ensure an adequate standard of living after retirement, according to global consultancy Mercer.
Experts point out the lack of financial literacy in an average household, overspending by millennials, easy access to credit and a prevalent culture of conspicuous consumption as the main reasons for UAE residents’ inability to save.
With a staggering 675 per cent increase in the number of people over 65 years in the UAE between 2011 and 2021, according to World Bank data, there are social and economic concerns around the growing burden on public and personal finances.
Engendering a culture of saving early through financial literacy is, therefore, a social and economic imperative.
Start early
In a child's early years, parents have a golden opportunity to start the financial literacy journey.
Research by the World Economic Forum in 2019 shows that hands-on experience from mums and dads is particularly important in helping children learn the basics of money management, such as budgeting and saving.
The sooner parents introduce their children to the concept of money, the better.
Familiarisation with money skills can start with the smallest of steps — such as explaining what happens at the store checkout, showing children the receipt, and letting them hold the change.
Saving lessons
If children as young as three or four are shown what money is, they can quickly get to grips with what it is for and how exciting it is to have it.
This then sets the stage for the introduction of basic savings.
An old-fashioned savings jar gives children a fun, hands-on attachment to what it feels like to save money — they can see the pile of coins get bigger over time and learn to appreciate what they have.
Then when they’re a little older, they can learn the value of hard-earned cash by being given opportunities to earn money.
For example, Dh10 ($2.7) for washing the dishes shows that hard work pays.
Public and private sectors are also working to address the challenges related to financial planning.
In the UAE, the Ministry of Finance’s Saving Awareness initiative provides simple, step-by-step guidance on achieving financial freedom and saving for retirement.
Banks possess a unique opportunity to help young people learn that every aspect of life — where we live, what we eat, where we go to university, the clothes we wear and the holidays we take — rests on our ability to make money and manage it responsibly.
Engage with Gen Z for financial management
Deciding to take the message out into the community, Mashreq partnered with Gems Education Modern Academy to launch a financial literacy boot camp to show young people the value of financial independence.
The course provided practical, real-world experience of financial challenges and explored basic concepts such as budgeting, saving, investing, taxes, insurance and credit management. This approach creates a focus on independence for Gen Z.
Banks, therefore, should leverage financial technologies and digital platforms to engage with young people positively and creatively to create healthy financial attitudes and behaviours.
Together, parents, policymakers and banks have the tools society needs to encourage financial literacy, create personal responsibility and forge a national saving mindset.
With 2.78 million people under the age of 24 in the UAE, these goals are crucial if we are to help tomorrow’s working-age population become more financially independent.
Teaching the value of hard work and financial independence are good life skills but, perhaps more importantly, they are essential behavioural attributes that we need to create socio-economic harmony between generations.
Any organisation that takes action to make it happen — private or public — is making a vital contribution to the country’s future prosperity.
Samir Ismail Talkhani is senior vice president and head of digital consumer acquisition at Mashreq Neo
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 1
Mata 11'
Chelsea 1
Alonso 43'
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Cologne v Union Berlin (5.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Hertha Berlin v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Freiburg (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Borussia Monchengladbach (8.30pm)
Sunday
Mainz v Augsburg (5.30pm)
Schalke v Bayer Leverkusen (8pm)
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
