An Emirati Eye: Aida Al Busaidy Shares Sage Advice On Building Financial Freedom
The communications strategist, storyteller and Bazaar Arabia columnist takes a different path when it comes to being free, both financially and mentally
I can’t remember who said it or where I read this but the saying goes something like “money is not the goal, it’s a tool… freedom is the goal.” As humans, we decided a long time ago to set a value for things, and there’s an itch to always have nice things in your life. To satisfy that itch? You need money.
You can probably guess where I am going with this; this column I want to highlight the subject of having financial independence. In the last few years, I have been thinking about – and acting on – this a lot, and this course was mostly spurred on by the people around me.
The catch? My path has been to not do what others are doing around me. Why? Because, well, I am different and more importantly, I want different things.
Most of us go through the motions of life as set by society, our families and often primarily, our parents. The usual path looks very much like this: go to school, then more school, and maybe a bit more school to finally secure a job that will pay for your bills. Next? Get married, have kids and to then go back into the rut of paying for the same path that was set for you, and repeat.
Not all of us do this, but honestly, it’s the majority and if you look to the left or the right at the person you are sitting next to as you read this, their route tends to look the same. This is one of the things I didn’t want for myself. The second, and to me the most important reason as to why I didn’t want to follow anyone else’s path was because, as a woman half-way through her life in my forties, when I studied most of the women that surrounded me – our mothers and older sisters – I realised they have no financial freedom. A lot of their income, support or dependency was from their husbands or sons, but never from their own efforts. Not everyone needs a traditional job to reach financial freedom, although it does help to have a sustainable salary that supports you. You can also secure independence by acquiring stocks, bonds and investing a bit here and there. The goal should be to have a passive income that isn’t dependent on someone else.
Most people earn to spend but not many earn to save. So a few years ago, I started looking into everything I had saved and thought, ‘I can’t have worked for two decades and not have anything to show for it’. So I expanded my portfolio and began buying real estate (a big call) – I felt that this investment wouldn’t fail me. I bought into National Bonds because of the methodology and link to the government, I put money into crypto and NFTs (but on a small scale), then into stocks and shares and finally into consultancy as a side gig.
What I realised is that not only were all these avenues making money for me while I slept soundly, but the saying ‘work smarter, not harder’ really came into play.
We get comfortable when others have to front the bills but this ultimately means you are bound to someone else to constantly cover your day to day expenditure. You answer to others, and are beholden to them.
Once I understood this for myself, I began to teach my children the meaning of financial independence and set up accounts for them to begin earning and making money.
One thing is for sure, if you are going to pass on anything to your loved ones, and the next generation, it’s probably this valuable lesson.
Photography: Efraim Evidor. Styling: Imogene Legrand. Make-up & Hair: Arina Zubakhina. Stylist’s Assistant: Janhvi Kohli. Special Thanks To The St. Regis Downtown Dubai
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s June 2024 issue.
