Savings advice for the individual

Since there's no clear-cut, one-size-fits-all retirement plan for everyone, Gulf News asked Steve Gregory of Holborn Assets to give specific advice to different case studies.

Low-income family

Anna: A single, Dubai-based expatriate mother from India, 51, supporting a 15-year-old, high-school daughter. She earns Dh60,000 yearly and has no savings, pension or investment. She has unpaid credit card bills worth Dh2,000 and a personal loan of Dh20,000.

Advice: Repay the credit card as quickly as you can. Continue the payments on the personal loan even if you can afford more, because the bank is unlikely to refund interest for early repayment. Budget your outgoings to see how much you can save each month. If you can manage Dh550 per month or more, consider a regular savings plan from an offshore insurance or investment company registered in Dubai. Do not sign a contract which runs beyond your expected retirement age, or one that you may be unable to pay into for the full term. Select a range of funds that meet your feelings about risk. You should take more risk in the early years, for the opportunities of gains as the world economies grow from the recession, then switch to less risky investments at least five years before you reach the expected retirement age. Don't be tempted to fund your daughter's further education needs at the expense of providing for your own retirement. Insist that she contributes towards the cost of further education.

Middle-income family

Sarah and Philip: Aged 51 and 53 from the UK, living with children aged 17 and 19 in a two-bedroom flat in Dubai. Sarah earns Dh100,000 a year and Philip Dh120,000. They have savings of Dh180,000 and a mortgage still payable in five years. Both have no pension.

Advice: As Britons you are eligible to qualify for the UK basic state pension, provided you have made sufficient national insurance contributions. Write to the Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs residency in Newcastle for a pensions forecast. You will need to pay in for 30 years in total to qualify for a state pension, but many of those years have already been covered when you worked in the UK, or under other rules like periods of child-raising or unemployment. Make voluntary payments to catch up and complete the 30 years you need to qualify. Ask your employers if they will contribute towards a pension for you, because many companies do in order to retain staff and avoid high staff turnover. Target your mortgage repayments to repay the mortgage before your retire; though it seems you are doing so already just be sure of it. Don't pay it off early as the mortgage interest cost is so low that you won't benefit from clearing it unless interest rates increase to above seven per cent. Assuming you are otherwise debt-free, decide on a budget you can maintain and allocate a monthly amount to invest. You are presently earning £37,500 (Dh220,000) and if you want to retire on half your present joint income, you need to create a fund which would provide £18,750 per year. Inflation adjusted, your target income in retirement (at age 65 for Philip) would then be £28,361. And that's at inflation of only three per cent! A fund of £567,000 should buy you a guaranteed annuity for life of £28,300. Consider life insurance to provide additional money for the survivor should one of you die before retirement.

High-income family

Mohammad and Nadia from Lebanon: Aged 54 and 50, living in Dubai. Their only son, 24, is not living with them and has a job. Mohammad earns Dh480,000 a year and Nadia about Dh30,000. They have no savings at the moment as education of their son, past expenses and a high-maintenance lifestyle depleted their income. The couple has no mortgage or investments back home.

Advice: You need to be investing offshore, in order to keep your cash in a politically safe, consumer-friendly environment, and also consider buying a property. It's time to start preparing for the longest holiday of your life. It's unlikely that you'll be able to work in Dubai beyond age 65, due to visa restrictions, so you have perhaps eleven years to create your retirement survival fund. It's unfair to ask your son to support you both at the same time as raising his own children, so you really must address your own situations urgently. Cut expenses, and create a budget. Keep a record of all your spending to ensure you are certain you know where the money is going. Repay debts if there are any. Reduce your outgoings or increase your income. Set monthly and annual goals for savings, and create a deposit to buy a home in retirement. When you have established a regular savings habit over six months or longer, talk to an independant financial adviser about creating your own retirement fund in a politically stable offshore centre that is consumer friendly and has sensible consumer protection laws.

— Steve Gregory can be reached at: steve@holbornassets.com