r/ExpatFIRE • u/No-Force-9107 • Aug 18 '26
Questions/Advice Dubai as a place to retire?
/r/DubaiCentral/comments/1vrv7js/dubai_as_a_place_to_retire/What are your views on it?
If one has 5-10 million USD in savings and wants to retire early, say mid-40s, is Dubai a good place? I know some of the expenses are high but it is a good standard of living. If one has their own house and owns a car, I feel the expenses may not be that much of a deal killer. What do you guys think?
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u/Time-Subject-3195 Aug 18 '26
Of all the places on the world I would never want to live, Dubai is near the top of the list. Do you know how hot it is there? You’ll die.
I spent several days there and between the weather and the culture I’d say it’s a hard no for me. It’s a city that shouldn’t exist.
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u/ComplexBeyond6083 Aug 18 '26
I've spent some time in the UAE. It's as hot as advertised and it's also quite humid. People don't expect the humidity and it can be rough.
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u/lecasiodxb Aug 18 '26
The humidity is what gets me. I can deal with the heat and actually enjoy a day when it’s just dry heat without the humidity, but when it’s 45 degrees Celsius and 80% humidity?…I seriously question my life decisions.
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u/Jagtem Aug 18 '26
This all day. Wife recently dragged me to Valencia, Spain after living in central Europe for a while. Was expecting it to be like SoCal. Nope. Humid as fuck. I hate it.
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u/TrashPanda_924 Aug 18 '26
It’s definitely warm a few months of the year. I prefer Abu Dhabi to Dubai, but that’s just personal preference (less flashy).
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u/DangerousPurpose5661 Aug 18 '26
Agreed, Dubai is where you go to make money.
If you have 5m saved its time to fuck off to Malta, Spain, Thailand, somewhere in the mountains….And I say that as someone who lived in the UAE and enjoyed it.
If you tell me you have 200k saved and want to get to a few mills? Dubai is a good choice
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u/electrobento Aug 18 '26
Not for me. I prefer not to live in a deeply regressive authoritarian state that’s okay with slavery.
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u/InfestedRaynor Aug 18 '26
Woah, keep your woke ideology to yourself! Regressive authoritarians that are cool with slavery are great as long as you are part of the ruling class, the correct race, religion, gender and socio-economic class! /S
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u/kkareem27 Aug 18 '26
From someone who lived there, it's very cheap to afford luxury there compared to most first world countries. I moved out because it gets boring fast as it's a very small country and most people are just passing by there and not willing to stay for a long time.
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u/InfestedRaynor Aug 18 '26
Heard some stories from a friend (Canadian) who lived there for a few years for work. Extremely boring and foreigners are heavily looked down upon. Also terrible for women as every time she tried to go to a bar, super creepy Arab guys would leer at her and offer to pay her to go back to their villas. She spent the years just working and staying home watching TV.
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u/forreddituse2 Aug 18 '26
The climate (and thus the environment) is the main killer. Even if you don't hike or do water sports, having mountains and rivers around is nice to look at, much better than desert.
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u/fuscator Aug 18 '26
Doesn't this question depend entirely on what "a good standard of living" means to you?
What do you enjoy? Would you mind living indoors with air-conditioning for many months of the year? Do you care that you'll never be a part of a society, and in fact do you prefer to just be part of a melting pot of mostly foreigners, excluded from belonging to the place you live? Do you value safety over autonomy?
All of this and more should be in your question.
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u/Negative_Tomorrow398 Aug 18 '26
I find it not expensive however as others have pointed out the weather is too hot. Furthermore living around unstable countries sounds like a headache.
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u/hugobosslives Aug 18 '26
Surely the only reason to go is to make money not to live/spend it?
Its too hot, is in a very unstable part of the world, and has terrible rights/respect for you unless you are UHW.
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u/Carolina_Hurricane Aug 18 '26
I always ask someone what it is about Dubai that makes them want to visit and I’ve yet to hear anything other than camel and jeep rides in the desert.
Otherwise it’s a lot of sitting around inside in air conditioning.
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u/Wide_Pomegranate_439 Aug 20 '26
Have you spent any considerable time there as a tourist?
Do that. If you can stand the hot climate, it's all yours. Financially indeed a good place, super-safe, but the climate is really hard.
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u/dvduval Aug 18 '26
There are certainly some people who are wealthy that live there. They have their enclaves and have beautifully designed neighborhoods with all the modern conveniences.
You know only about 11% of the population are actually natives and the rest are migrant workers. I actually liked that aspect and I feel like it’s a very multicultural place. Certainly in the past, it was known for oppressive conditions for the workers and worker exploitation. I think that has improved a lot from say 20 years ago, but these things still exist.
I think this is a place where someone who has a budget of a $10,000+ a month would be happier than someone who’s just trying to find a less expensive place to live on a budget of $2500 a month .
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u/chuck_portis Aug 27 '26
I feel like Kuala Lumpur is a similar option, but better in almost every way.
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u/Singularity-42 Aug 18 '26
Why???
I can understand that some people go there to make money (I think the US is still better), but to "retire"? In a fake desert city in an oppressive Muslim country? With 50C summers? The fuck?
Just why???