My Dubai Salary: ‘I earn up to Dh30,000 a month from investments and side hustles’

Wali Khan, a telecoms engineer, aims to use his income to achieve financial independence and build a pot for his children’s education

Wali Khan has a year’s worth of expenses in his emergency fund. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Wali Khan, a 44-year-old Pakistani who lives in Sharjah’s Al Taawun area, works as a telecoms engineer and dabbles in content creation as a side hustle.

He started making videos on personal finance on his YouTube channels in 2020 and monetises them through sponsorships, advertisements, referrals and Amazon affiliates.

It is a lot of hard work, but his passion for personal finance and a better lifestyle keeps him motivated.

Mr Khan, originally from Karachi, lives with his wife and three children and is careful with debt, claiming to have saved more than Dh100,000 ($27,229) in the form of cashback from credit cards over the past 15 years.

He has also invested in stocks, exchange-traded funds, property, and fixed deposits and has been living in the UAE for 15 years.

Mr Khan completed his electrical engineering degree in Pakistan and pursued a master’s degree in data communication in the UK before working in Pakistan for six years and eventually moving to the UAE.

What was your first job and salary?

My first job at the age of 24 paid 16,000 Pakistani rupees ($57.5) a month in 2004. I was a telecoms engineer working for a multinational telecoms operator.

For the first year, I hopped between three jobs before settling with Motorola in 2005. In 2009, I came to Dubai. By the time I left Pakistan, my monthly salary had reached 170,000 rupees.

During my time in Karachi, I considered relocating to Islamabad as an alternative option. However, the job opportunity in Dubai presented more attractive benefits, ultimately influencing my decision.

In 2009, I moved to Dubai with Motorola on a monthly salary of Dh20,000 and continued with the company until 2013 when it was acquired by Nokia Siemens Networks.

In 2014, I was offered the opportunity to relocate to Qatar by Nokia Siemens. After a year, I was presented with a position as a telecoms consultant in Dubai, prompting my decision to return to the region.

Since 2018, I have been working as an engineering manager for a telecoms company.

What are your side hustles and how much do you earn from them?

I have been engaged in side hustles for a long time alongside my full-time job without breaching any rules. I am into content creation.

When pursuing a side hustle, there may come a time when you must decide between your full-time job and your side hustle due to scalability limitations.

In the realm of content creation, the evolution of my skills is evident. For example, three years ago, it would take me two to three days to produce a video. Now, I can craft a video of similar or even superior quality in just one hour. The scalability in content creation is truly remarkable.

Amid the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, I found myself with some spare time. This led me to create videos discussing personal finance and productivity on my YouTube channel, which now boasts an impressive 61,000 subscribers. This content struck a chord with many individuals, as there is a noticeable lack of such material in this region, and in Pakistan.

I have two YouTube channels in English and Urdu, with 63,000 and 2,000 subscribers, respectively.

As my channel grew, I came to know that I can do so much through YouTube and content creation. Currently, I make a good living out of it.

In addition to creating content, I have a diverse portfolio of investments. I have nearly Dh1 million saved from my real estate ventures in Pakistan, stock market investments, and fixed income. This yields me between Dh5,000 to Dh7,000 per month, depending on the investment's time horizon.

My side hustles include earning approximately Dh6,000 monthly from YouTube through AdSense. This income is generated from advertisements placed on my videos.

As a content creator on YouTube, I also receive referrals, sponsorships, and affiliate income. On average, I earn Dh5,000 to Dh6,000 a month from sponsorships.

Furthermore, I make between Dh300 and Dh500 a month from Amazon affiliates, which I am looking to expand as it proves to be a lucrative niche for me.

Cumulatively, I earn between Dh25,000 and Dh30,000 a month from my investments and side hustles.

Balancing this income with my 9-to-5 job is no easy feat. After my day job, I dedicate my evenings to focusing on my side hustles, with the unwavering support of my family.

Late into the night, I pour my energy into creating podcasts, driven by my passion for inspiring others.

Do you manage to save and have considerable savings?

I have managed to save nearly Dh1 million, in addition to my properties in Pakistan, through diligent saving practices.

The first step towards financial security is saving for emergencies, followed by closely monitoring your income and expenses. If you find yourself facing financial difficulties, the key is to track and analyse your finances.

I personally use Google Sheets for this purpose, as I find it more effective than fancy apps. By keeping a close eye on my finances, I am able to assess my progress on a monthly or quarterly basis.

It is crucial to hold yourself accountable for your money management. Only after establishing a solid savings foundation can you consider investing.

What asset classes do you invest in?

I invest in individual stocks in both the US and Pakistan markets, exchange-traded funds in the US, and the UAE stock market. Diversification is key to mitigating risk and maximising returns.

I also save with National Bonds and utilise the Roshan Digital Account in Pakistan, which offers attractive returns of nearly 9 per cent in USD terms.

I bought properties in Pakistan in 2014, influenced by a herd mentality. I made a mistake by investing all my savings and taking a loan to buy a home. Looking back, it was not a prudent financial decision. It's important to set a budget and not put all savings into one investment.

I invested in stocks in multiple phases. I invested for the first time in Pakistan in 2007 and 2008. The market dropped and I pulled out my money at a loss. Then I started trading in US stocks in 2011 and the market dipped. I lost $10,000.

This is why mentorship is very important. You should never invest too much and always have a horizon of at least 10 years. I also invested all in, which is a very wrong approach for investing.

Then Covid hit, and I started learning and realised that stocks are easy to invest in for the long run.

Because the stock market had dropped during the pandemic, I made good returns year after year. It's only been four years that I've been investing in the stock market.

I don't want to withdraw this money for the next 10 years. I can rebalance occasionally.

Do you have any debt?

Despite the size of the loan I took out to purchase my house, I had a plan to pay it off within two years by reaching certain milestones.

I had backup options, such as selling my car, a plot of land or using my gratuity in case my income was disrupted. Over time, I was able to comfortably pay off the loan.

I never purchase cars using a loan, rather I buy them with cash. In hindsight, it was not a wise decision because if I had invested that money elsewhere, it would have given me better returns.

I have a lot of credit cards because I review them for my YouTube channel. I use them prudently. Being in the UAE for 15 years, I have cumulatively saved more than Dh100,000 in the form of cashback from my credit cards.

I pay my kids’ school fees, travel and other expenses through credit cards. It’s easy for a family of my size to get this cash back from credit card companies.

Have you ever inherited a sum of money?

My father passed away last year and he had some money that was distributed among the family.

I invested the money in the Pakistan stock market, fixed deposits and different investment vehicles because I could not bring it to the UAE.

For the past four or five years, I have not remitted money to Pakistan. All my investments there generate enough money to take care of my expenses.

Growing up, were you taught how to handle your finances?

My parents were very cautious, frugal and never splurged money. They come from a humble background. My father was an accountant and my mother was a schoolteacher.

Most South Asian families have a pessimistic attitude towards money and a scarcity mindset. However, this helped me because I wanted to make sure that I should not rely on my job only to produce money.

I am almost financially independent, although there are many milestones coming up, such as kids’ education, which can eat up a lot of wealth. I must prepare for it.

I want to remain financially free. That's why I don’t spend a lot on a car, for instance. I own a nine-year-old car. I don't have the urge to spend on such things. But I spend on travel a lot every year.

Also, I don't do lifestyle inflation. I've been living in the same apartment for the past 10 years. I’ve not upgraded, although I can afford to.

These are not things I was taught, but saw my parents implement, and it was inculcated in me.

What are your major monthly expenses?

The major expense is for schooling and tuition. Rent is the second-highest spending category. We also travel once a year, so that accounts for the third-highest spending category, followed by groceries.

How do you budget your salary?

I know my fixed expenses for the next year. I put this aside and know where this will come from.

The good thing about living in the UAE is that you can plan meticulously because some bills stay the same. I can plan in a very drilled down manner for my expenses.

Grocery and petrol prices have been increasing but do not impact me much.

I need to add money every year for my kids’ education. If you know everything, then it's easy to plan, but if you get surprises, then it's difficult.

Have you started saving for retirement? When do you wish to retire?

I can retire from my day job in a few years and work on my side hustles. But if you talk about retiring and not doing anything at all, I don’t wish to do it because I love what I'm doing in terms of content creation.

All my investments and side hustles are aimed to help me achieve financial independence and build a pot for my kids for their education.

Do you have an emergency fund?

Emergency fund is a subjective topic. For anyone living in India, Pakistan or even the West, a six-month emergency fund is fine.

But for people living in Dubai, I would highly recommend having funds that can sustain you for one year. I have a year’s worth of expenses in my emergency fund.

The money should be kept in a place where you can easily access it for at least one or two months’ expenses, while the remaining can be put into National Bonds or a good savings account.

What do you spend your disposable income on?

My wants are mostly related to travelling. My YouTube channel requires a lot of investment. I require a good laptop for editing, as well as gadgets and cameras. My camera gear is around Dh50,000.

Do you worry about money?

I don't worry about money now. When I purchased the house in Pakistan, although I knew it was a mistake, it made me more confident and increased my risk appetite.

I make sure that money is a tool. I should not be working towards making more money but let my money work for me.

What are your best money-saving hacks to beat inflation?

I try to invest and if I manage to generate 8 per cent to 9 per cent return over 10 to 15 years, I would be able to beat inflation in the longer term.

I might not be able to beat inflation today, but I'm not worried about it.

What are your financial goals?

My short-term goal is to make sure to have a sufficient pot for myself in the next five to 10 years so that my kids’ university education can be funded only by my investment returns and keep my principal amount intact.

I want to be financially independent, although I am right now. I should be able to live life on my terms. I want to be able to live anywhere in the world and do what I want, but still make money.

I don't want to worry about living in a specific country only because I'm making money from there.

There is no better city to live your retirement life than Dubai, if you can sustain it. If I can fund that, that’s my ultimate goal.

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