What Did Your Summer Holidays Have to do With Your Finances?

Date Posted:Mon, 31st Aug 2026

Summer’s near its end. Schools are back, and perhaps you’ve been at your desk at least a week.

A trip ‘back home’ allows time to reconnect with friends and family, and usually some life admin: a property to check on, accounts to monitor, or a family adviser to meet. Perhaps you’re planning to return in a few years and need to get organised.

A destination holiday, on the other hand, can be an exciting blend of a new country, culture, currency and lifestyle. It can perhaps represent the future after leaving the grind of full-time work.

Travel is a simple illustration of how our lives exist across borders. We span both the ‘legacy’ life of our origins with unknown destinations of the future – all the while building a life and career in Dubai.

The more countries in play, the greater the complexity of your financial picture. And when portfolios reach $1 million in assets, that picture needs an increasingly wide lens. Tax consideration across jurisdictions can be a conversation in itself. Estate planning can be multi-layered, weighing assets such as property or a business with your wishes for your family members. The timing of your retirement – well, that’s the Million-Dollar Question.

So, it’s not just the locations involved in your family’s life – other factors add to the complexity. Past pensions, self-managed online accounts, dividends, and other private company proceeds; rental income, gratuity, and cash savings may all be part of your investable assets (in addition to property).

Perhaps some, or all, the following are relevant to you:

You hold assets in multiple countries with different tax treatments
You're planning a significant transition (selling a business, repatriation, marriage)
Inheritance may need to include more than one generation
You’ve attempted to self-invest and self-manage… but hit a wall

Put it all together; you’ve likely outgrown basic investment advice or planning. Something more holistic is required: what we call Financial Life Management.

AES is continually fascinated with the lives its clients live across borders – whether back home, the holiday property in Europe or Asia, or another location entirely.

It’s also intriguing to learn about people’s personal goals and passions earmarked for after full-time work. Some may consult and make use of their expertise. Others have an entrepreneurial itch to run a small business in an unrelated field to their career. Others choose passion projects to enjoy as a new challenge, such as fixing up a cut-price property in a sunny location, or some philanthropic work for a cause close to their heart. Almost everyone wants quality time with loved ones, with flexibility for the travel involved.

Having a clear picture of your finances and cherished life goals makes this easier, without the burden of doing all the research yourself. Research from Vanguard showed that clients advised by a human reported 71% higher positive emotions such as confidence and security, with a greater percentage found (79%) in the reduction in negative feelings such as anxiety or being overwhelmed.

Perhaps you’re already planning your next foreign holiday. Planning for the BIG move after retiring is also worth thinking about now.

Disclaimer: Capital at risk. Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only, and you may get less back than the figures shown. Any financial promotions are intended for information purposes only and do not constitute an offer to invest or provide personal financial advice or tax advice. We do not take any responsibility for third-party websites and content linked to from this channel. Issued on behalf of AES Middle East Insurance Broker LLC, registered with the Ministry of the Economy, licence 571368, commercial registration 75162, regulated by the UAE Central Bank, licence no. 189. This material is intended for Retail Clients within the UAE.