[subliminalpanda]

Low cost of living, high salary and no income tax. My sister works as an attorney for a global law firm in Dubai, and the attitude that westerners have there is like they're exploiting a rainforest for its goods. You move there for 4 or 5 years, rack up a huge sum and head back to your country of origin with a huge chunk of change.

Although I imagine for Americans this will be more difficult now with FACTA laws.

[level09]

>Low cost of living

Not really true

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings.jsp

however, many companies offer housing as part of their packages.

[subliminalpanda]

Precisely. And for many western expats, their package deals also include schooling for their children as well if they have them, and a company car.

Besides food and utilities you're pocketing all the money you earn.

[mahyarm]

But compared to the traditional high tax, high income areas? Like New York, SF or London?

http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/comparison/mountain...

[enraged_camel]

Yeah. My cousin works in Qatar and while his salary is around $50,000, he lives in a 4-bedroom condo on the top floor that overlooks the ocean and his company pays for it.

[ghostly_s]

50k (even cash) is not nearly enough for the tradeoff of life in a regime like UAE to be worth it.

[616c]

It really depends. I have always lived on the cheap side, but others go out to expensive bars (almost all in 5-stat hotels) and waste incredibly dumb amounts of money on everything.

Granted, I can drive a SUV at 1.00QR per litre. at 90 octane gasoline, that is basically 20-30 US cents a litre. However, inflation is a dirty word. Last inflation bump came because gov't sector pentions for Qatari citizens were close to doubled, and almost all grocer products increased by at least 1QR (0.20-0.30 USD) overnight. Many went up a lot more. And people were upset, but that is top-down economics.

[level09]

Don't really think that guy was getting a 50K package.

The salary I can imagine for an American engineer working in Abu Dhabi would be a minimum of 100,000 - 180,000+ USD , and it is tax free (usually comes with additional benefits).

Abu Dhabi is a rich city (they got oil) and they usually pay more than Dubai.

Source: I live here, and run a startup and work with multiple companies and consultants.

[enraged_camel]

He's not an engineer.

[realusername]

High salary yes but until you get in a jail for a random reason and then it's just a number on your bank account.

[archier]

how do you find one of these jobs?