Young Fadi Hindi started his career as a sub maker in North Carolina then went on to become a consultant for Accenture earning good money. This was his routine at the time: work, send money home, spend, repeat. He realized this was not sustainable so he decided to do something: He planned, became CEO of Takaful Emarat and didn’t stop there. Fadi launched his own business. This is how he did it all.

Former CEO of Takaful Emarat Insurance, founder and CEO of Algofy.ai, and Senior Partner of Xische’s DigiAI, Fadi Hindi shares with us his tips on how to successfully invest and plan for your future.

Fadi spent the majority of his life in the United States before moving to the region. His first job was as a Subway sandwich maker where he was voted the fastest sub maker in North Carolina! He didn’t stop there: He graduated from North Carolina State University in 1994 and was hired as a full-time consultant in Accenture, which was known as Andersen Consulting at that time. This is when his view on money started shifting. 

Here are Fadi’s tips on how to properly invest in your future in his own words:

Pay yourself first

I think that the best advice I ever got growing up was that you got to pay yourself before paying anybody. Paying yourself does not mean buying the Gucci shoes or the Hermes bag, but it means that you take that money and you set it aside in a savings instrument. The investment does not have to be substantial. The investment could start with as little as $100; the most important thing is to make sure you start early. 

I personally believe in the equity market. To me, equities provide the greatest potential for capital appreciation. I learned to stay away from Mutual funds since I realized they have high fees associated with them, which end up eating into your potential returns; thus, reducing the overall long-term gains.

Save half of your salary 

If I was to go back and redo my financials, I would tell my 20 years old self to start saving 50% of his salary. The challenge that I faced at the time, was that I was making money, but I was paying for my own college, my own books, and my own car. I didn’t have the ability to save much from my salary. The minute I joined Andersen Consulting and started making a decent salary, a portion of it went to support my family, and the other big chunk of it went to my retirement plan. 

The remaining is what I used as ‘spending’ money. In general, I like nice things! Who doesn’t? Just like anyone out there, I am always tempted to spend and buy. I am told by my close friends that I am an impulsive buyer sometimes. However, that spending is always on the tail-end of having paid myself and my family first.

Study your investment

After coming to Dubai, I decided to invest in a plan for my kids’ education. Not reading the terms and conditions in detail for that investment was a big mistake. I got locked in for 5 years and constantly fought with the agents about the returns. Once the agents took their commissions, they could care less about the performance of my portfolio. It was a nightmare. I barely got out with the same capital I put in 5 years later. Yet I am glad I did. 

My take away? Always make sure you are investing in the right instrument. Read all the fine prints to make sure that you understand what you are signing up for!

Business inspiration

We wanted to know more about Fadi, and what inspires him in his daily life and more precisely in his new venture. Fadi talks about business guru Tom Peters as one of his inspirations. Peters is famous for his business management books and is best known for ‘In Search of Excellence’, his book about management practices written in the 1980s.

Tom Peters is my hero, I’ve implemented a lot of his teachings in Takaful Emarat and other organizations. We’ve been able to take a classical 1995 style organization to a Google-like organization in less than 12 months. It was recognized by the industry as the most innovative insurer after only one year of transformation.

My initial focus is always on people. As a leader, it is not about you. You should be in the back, you should be hidden. They (your employees) should be the ones that really take off. Tom Peters says in one of his books: ‘You don’t know everything. You ask. 9 times out of 10 you will get a better idea than yours, so you take that idea and implement it.’ And here I am today, doing just that.