The Gulf Touch
Guides
Every issue closes with one money question that is specific to living here — tax-free income, a dollar-pegged currency, no state pension. These are those pieces, one per page. Each is dated: figures are as of the day it was sent.
Rates & the economy
- How the dirham's dollar peg sets UAE interest rates Why the UAE base rate follows the US Federal Reserve, how EIBOR carries it to variable-rate mortgages, and what it means for savings.
- What an oil price move does, and doesn't do, to life in Abu Dhabi Oil does not set your interest rate here — the dollar peg does. What it does move, slowly, is the economy behind jobs and housing.
- Why bond prices fall when rates rise: duration explained Why an existing fixed-rate bond loses value when new bonds pay more, and how a fund's duration tells you how much.
Investing
- Equal-weight vs market-cap index funds: what "the index" means Every index has a rule for how much of each company it holds. How market-value and equal weighting differ, in exposure and in cost.
- Fund domicile for UAE investors: US dividend tax and estate tax Where a fund is established changes how much US dividend tax it pays and whether its shares count as US assets on your death.
- Property vs shares: the price you can see and the price you can't Shares are priced every few seconds; a home only when it sells. Why that is a difference in visibility, not in safety.
Tax & reporting
- US estate tax on American shares held from the UAE Non-US persons can owe US estate tax on American shares above $60,000. Why the rule follows the asset, and where treaties change it.
- The Common Reporting Standard: what your UAE bank reports How UAE banks and insurers report accounts to other countries' tax authorities under CRS, why your declared tax residence decides it, and where FATCA fits.
Banking & insurance
- Offshore bank accounts for UAE residents: what actually differs An offshore account is neither a tax shelter nor secret. What differs is deposit protection, continuity after residency ends, and cost.
- Life insurance in the UAE: term, whole-of-life and unit-linked What a life insurance contract is, the difference between term and whole-of-life cover, and what a unit-linked policy bundles in.
- Takaful: how Sharia-compliant life cover differs from insurance Takaful shares risk through a separate fund rather than transferring it to a company. What that changes for surpluses and shortfalls.
Work & retirement
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US & European markets, Abu Dhabi real estate, gold, oil & Bitcoin — read from where you live.