"As an ex-Goldman Sachs banker in Dubai, I would never give up this quality of life"
I am a British citizen and I live in Dubai. I moved here three years ago after a career in banking at Goldman Sachs and I have absolutely no intention of leaving again, irrespective of the current situation with Iran.
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If you're not in Dubai, you won't get it. Live and work here for a year and you'll wonder how you ever thought Dubai could be over.
When you ask a British resident why someone would move to Dubai they typically say something along the lines of "weather and tax". This is revealing only in so far as it holds a mirror up to their own lives. Weather and tax are what people (justifiably) dislike about their own lives in the UK.
However, if you ask a British person who has lived in Dubai for a few years why they live in Dubai, they don't say weather and tax. They invariably say something related to quality of life. Sure, weather and tax play a part, but the reality is vastly different - it is so so easy to have a far higher quality of life here, across multiple domains.
The reasons are too numerous to mention, but holistically they add up to a feeling of "my goodness, the quality of life for me, my partner and my family is wildly better than I thought possible in our lifetimes - or would have been possible if I had stayed in the UK. My only regret is not moving sooner." I have heard versions of this refrain literally hundreds of times.
The vast majority of things that make life in Dubai so great are structural. They will far outlast any short term geopolitical flare up. This is why I am still investing in Dubai property and don't believe the hype about falling prices. Life is great here. The reality on the ground and the perception of it overseas are worlds apart.
Percy Hunter is a pseudonym
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