Dubai Is Becoming More Than a Destination. For Many Affluent Families, It Is Becoming Home.
New research shows that 44% of affluent and high-net-worth residents surveyed in the UAE now plan to retire in the country. The shift says something important about Dubai's evolution, and about the wealth, family, and legacy decisions.
For decades, Dubai attracted professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, and families with a familiar proposition: come for the opportunity, build a career or business, accumulate wealth, enjoy an international lifestyle, and eventually decide where to go next.
Increasingly, "next" may simply be staying.
A new Money on the Move study from St. James's Place, based on a survey of 450 affluent and high-net-worth residents across the UAE, found that 44% now plan to retire in the country. More than half, 55%, said they have already stayed longer than originally expected, while 78% anticipate remaining abroad for at least another eight years.
The numbers point to a meaningful shift. The UAE is no longer simply where wealth is earned. For a growing number of families, it is becoming where life is built.
When a Temporary Move Becomes a Long-Term Decision
There is a significant difference between planning to live somewhere for a few years and imagining the next two or three decades there.
A temporary move can revolve around work, housing, schooling, and short-term financial goals. A long-term life raises broader questions about where a family will be based, how assets will be held, what happens to businesses when founders step back, how investments should be structured, and how wealth will eventually pass to the next generation.
For internationally connected families, these decisions rarely involve a single jurisdiction. Property, companies, investments, trusts, retirement accounts, and family members may all be spread across different countries, each with its own legal and tax framework.
That is where long-term residency becomes a wealth planning issue.
Dubai Is Also Changing the Financial Equation
The same research suggests that the UAE is not only influencing where people want to live, but also how quickly they believe they can reach financial independence.
According to the study, 96% of respondents said they earn more in the UAE than they would in a comparable role in their home country, while 97% said they are able to save more each month. Seven in ten believe living in the UAE could allow them to retire at least three years earlier than they otherwise would.
For many families, that creates a natural transition. The first phase may be focused on accumulation, building a business, increasing income, investing, acquiring property, and creating liquidity. As wealth grows, however, the priorities begin to change.
Accumulation becomes preservation. Growth becomes continuity. And eventually, wealth becomes legacy.
Retirement Is Only Part of the Conversation
For entrepreneurs, executives, investors, and business owners, retirement does not necessarily mean stepping away from economic activity. It may mean reducing day-to-day involvement while remaining active in investments, boards, family enterprises, advisory roles, or new ventures.
That makes the choice of where to live particularly important.
Dubai offers international connectivity, access to multiple markets, a strong business environment, and long-term residency options for qualifying individuals. But having the ability to remain in the UAE is only one part of the equation.
A family also needs to understand how its assets, businesses, succession plans, and existing obligations fit together across jurisdictions.
Moving does not make a person's financial history disappear. A family may live in Dubai while continuing to own real estate in the United States, maintain investments in Europe, operate businesses in Brazil, or have children living in other countries.
Long-term planning needs to account for that entire picture.
From Building Wealth to Building Continuity
Perhaps the most important aspect of the 44% figure is what it represents.
People who once viewed the UAE as a temporary chapter are increasingly imagining their future there. They are building companies, buying homes, raising families, investing, and accumulating wealth.
Over time, the question naturally changes from "How long will we stay?" to "How should we organize our lives if we stay?"
For affluent and high-net-worth families, the answer involves more than choosing a residence. It requires connecting wealth, family, business, succession, and legacy into one coordinated strategy.
At Larson Wealth & Legacy, we work with internationally connected families to help them understand how the different pieces of their financial lives fit together across countries, generations, and changing stages of life.
When Dubai becomes more than the place where wealth was built, planning needs to evolve with it.
It becomes about protecting what has been created, preparing for what comes next, and determining how that wealth should continue across generations.
This material is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be considered legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. Individual circumstances should be reviewed with the appropriate professional advisors.
LARSON WEALTH & LEGACY 2026. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
We do not carry out any activity in the United Arab Emirates regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE, the SCA, the Insurance Authority or the DFSA, unless expressly authorized. Any references to investments, financial products, trusts or similar structures are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute an offer of regulated services in the UAE or the DIFC.
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