A Dubai resident since 1992, Mark Kenaghan has been gainfully employed and diligent about investing during his lengthy tenure in the Gulf.
A few years back, he felt flush enough to buy an investment property in Scotland.
No one was more suprised than him when, not long after that, he found himself barely able to pay his family's bills.
"You are sitting there thinking, 'We have a lot of investments. How come we don't have any money?'"
Mr Kenaghan says he saw the property downturn coming in Dubai, but calculated that he could easily withstand it.
His mistake, he says, was only considering the potential impact of the local economic disruption, not the chain reaction around the world which left him unable to sell either of his properties or borrow from any of the banks that were so eager to lend to him just months before.
"At one point we were maxed out on two credit cards, waiting for the bonus to arrive. I just battened down the hatches," says the 50-year-old distribution manager for a Sharjah company, who is married with two children.
Mr Kenaghan is now energetically building up his emergency fund so he never finds himself in a similar situation again.
"The big lesson for me was to look at the worst-case scenario and say, 'What if? Do I have cash to draw on?" he says.
And after sifting through a handful of dodgy financial advisers, he is now working with Vince Truong of Holborn Assets to "keep on top of those investments. It's amazing how things change."
breagan@thenational.ae
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Company%20Profile
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Mubalada World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
Avatar%20(2009)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJames%20Cameron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESam%20Worthington%2C%20Zoe%20Saldana%2C%20Sigourney%20Weaver%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
