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23/10/2026

To the women in our lives: you remind everyone else about their check-ups, so this month, book your own.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the conversation is the part that counts. Early detection depends on people talking.

Put the appointment in your diary this week. Then message one woman you care about and ask her to do the same.

If this month starts one of those conversations in your household, it has done its job.

22/10/2026

Four numbers on an indexed universal life illustration decide most of what it can show: the cap, the participation rate, the charges and the loan rate.

The cap limits the index credit in a strong year. The participation rate sets how much of the index move counts. Charges come out of the policy every month. The loan rate is the cost of borrowing against the cash value. Each can differ between insurers and can change over time, so a figure that looks fixed on the page often is not.

In the United States, an actuarial guideline known as AG 49-A limits the rate an indexed illustration may display. A policy issued under another regime follows that regime's rules, so ask the insurer which rules govern the illustration you are reading and do not assume the US limit applies.

The order to read it in is the guaranteed column first, a lower-crediting scenario second and the current-assumptions column last. The role a policy plays in a household's plan should be decided from the first two.

Which of these four numbers could you find on your own policy documents today?

Bassem Fawzy, LL.B., PFP, FCSI | Vice President MENA | Elixir Wealth Private – DIFC | Regulated by the DFSA

21/10/2026

A policy illustration shows one possible future, and it cannot show the one that happens.

Every indexed universal life illustration rests on assumed crediting rates. Charges are deducted inside the policy every month whatever the index does, and caps and participation rates can be reset by the insurer. If credited interest runs below the illustrated rate for several years, cash value builds more slowly than the page suggested.

That matters most when the policy is carrying a loan. Interest accrues on the loan, and if cash value is no longer enough to cover the monthly charges, the policy can lapse unless more premium goes in. A lapse with a loan outstanding can also produce a tax consequence, which is one more reason to review policies before they are under strain.

A sound review compares the latest annual statement with the illustration the policy was sold on, then asks what premium keeps the policy in force at a lower credited rate. That answer sets the real funding level, and the household can then decide whether the role the policy plays is worth it.

When did anyone last compare your policy's annual statement with the illustration it was sold on?

Bassem Fawzy, LL.B., PFP, FCSI | Vice President MENA | Elixir Wealth Private – DIFC | Regulated by the DFSA

20/10/2026

The US 10-year Treasury yield was around 5.1% on October 16, and the Bank of Canada announces its next decision on October 28.

Rates at these levels raise a practical question for anyone holding an indexed universal life policy, or looking at an illustration for one. The caps and participation rates behind an illustration are set by the insurer and can change, so the projection on the page is only as sound as the assumptions underneath it.

Read the assumptions before the headline number. A well-built illustration shows a guaranteed column, a column on current assumptions, and a scenario with lower crediting. Ask to see the guaranteed column and the lower scenario first.

Then test the policy against its job. If it is meant to act as one reserve inside a decumulation plan, does it still hold up at the lower credited rate, with premiums paid on schedule and a loan outstanding? A policy that only works on the best-case column has not been tested.

If you hold a policy already, or have an illustration in front of you, a call is the place to read it together. A suitability assessment comes before any policy is considered. [LINK IN FIRST COMMENT]

Bassem Fawzy, LL.B., PFP, FCSI | Vice President MENA | Elixir Wealth Private – DIFC | Regulated by the DFSA

15/10/2026

Cash value inside a life policy is a balance that comes with conditions, and those conditions decide whether it can work as a reserve.

Premiums have to keep being paid. Charges are deducted inside the policy. Surrender charges can apply in the early years. A loan against the cash value accrues interest, and any unpaid loan reduces the death benefit. For indexed policies, the crediting caps and participation rates can change over the years, so the outcome varies and is never guaranteed.

Those conditions are the reason this belongs in a planning conversation. For some Canadian households in the Gulf, an indexed universal life policy can sit beside fixed income and cash as one more source of money that does not require selling investments in a weak market. For others it does not fit their income, their time horizon or their need for liquidity.

The sound approach is to read the policy terms first and decide the role afterward.

Do you know what conditions sit on the cash value of any policy your household already owns?

14/10/2026

The same market decline does more damage to a retirement in year one than in year fifteen.

Early withdrawals during a downturn permanently reduce the capital that later recoveries work on. A household that draws 4% from a portfolio that has just fallen 20% has sold a larger share of the portfolio than the plan assumed, and that share cannot participate when prices rise again. Planners call this sequence risk. It is a timing problem, and averages hide it.

Households can address it with a decumulation plan that separates the next several years of spending from the money that stays invested for growth. The near-term layer can hold cash and fixed income with maturities matched to the spending years. A personally owned life policy with accessible cash value may sit alongside as a further layer, with clear conditions: premiums stay paid, loans accrue interest, and any loan reduces the death benefit.

Households also keep a rule for which pot gets used in a down year. Without one, the decision gets made under stress.

Which of your household's assets would you leave untouched for a year if markets fell sharply?

Bassem Fawzy, LL.B., PFP, FCSI | Vice President MENA | Elixir Wealth Private – DIFC | Regulated by the DFSA

13/10/2026

The Bank of Canada announces its next rate decision on October 28, and in late September markets priced a hike at roughly even odds.

For a household still earning, that is a headline. For a household about to start drawing on savings, the same week can decide which assets get sold first. A withdrawal taken from a portfolio that is down removes units that would otherwise have been there to recover.

Decumulation planning starts with sources. Which pot funds next year's spending if markets are weak, and does that pot depend on a market recovery at all? Cash reserves and bonds maturing in the right years answer part of that. A personally owned permanent life policy with accessible cash value can serve as one further source, subject to its terms, its charges, the interest on any loan taken against it, and the premiums being paid.

None of these is free and none suits every household. A plan names its sources in advance, so a weak year changes which pot is used and leaves the plan itself alone.

12/10/2026

Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian friends and families. Wishing you a warm day with the people who matter most.

09/10/2026

Rates made headlines this month. The Federal Reserve raised its rate on September 16 for the first time in three years, the US 30-year yield reached its highest level since 2004, and Canada's 10-year touched 3.99%.

For a Canadian family in the Gulf, the dirham's peg to the US dollar means US rate moves tend to reach savings and borrowing costs here too. For anyone drawing on savings, the bigger question is which years of spending are already covered by assets that do not depend on a market recovery.

Fixed income can answer that in a planned way: holdings that mature across the years you expect to spend, so each year has a defined source of cash. Credit quality and maturity still matter, and the right mix depends on the household.

08/10/2026

The UAE dirham is pegged to the US dollar, so a Federal Reserve rate decision reaches Gulf households whether or not they own a single US bond.

The Fed raised its rate to a range of 3.75% to 4.00% on September 16, and sixteen of eighteen officials reportedly expect at least one more increase this year. The Bank of Canada held at 2.25% on September 2 and meets again on October 28, with markets pricing roughly even odds of a hike.

Two central banks moving in different directions complicate things for a Canadian household earning in dirhams, saving in one currency and planning to spend in another. Rate headlines rarely settle that question for anyone. A bond in one currency does not fund spending in another without a conversion at whatever rate applies that day.

A plan does. Decide how many years of spending belong in stable fixed-income holdings, in which currency each year's spending will fall, and what remains invested for growth. Those choices come first, and the daily rate news comes second.

Which currency will most of your household's retirement spending be in?

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Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)
Dubai

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