Lifestyle Financial Planning
The Regrets We Hear Too Often
Even the most organised expats in Switzerland miss key financial opportunities. Learn what could be overlooked for better long-term outcomes.
August 29, 2025
The global wealth map is shifting. For decades, conversations around money have revolved around established dynasties, long-standing family offices, and entrepreneurs who spent a lifetime building their fortunes. Today, a new generation is rewriting that script. Gen Z millionaires and billionaires, many of whom are barely into adulthood, are emerging as a fast-growing force shaping markets, consumer culture, and investment flows.
This isn’t just a story of Silicon Valley prodigies or Western trust fund heirs. The trend is global, and nowhere is it more visible than in the Gulf. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh have transformed into accelerators of young wealth. But as I highlighted in a recent contribution to Arabian Business, headlines often oversimplify the narrative. To truly understand this generational shift, we need to look at the sources of this money, the structures supporting it, the fragility it carries, and what it means for the future of wealth.
When people hear the phrase “Gen Z millionaire,” they often picture a self-made tech founder who struck gold overnight. The reality is more nuanced.
On one side are the first-generation builders: digital entrepreneurs, content creators, e-commerce innovators, and tech disruptors. These individuals have harnessed the scalability of digital platforms and the reach of global markets, building businesses in industries that barely existed fifteen years ago. For them, wealth has been created through speed, agility, and a relentless ability to adapt.
On the other side are the high-income heirs: young beneficiaries of established family businesses and dynasties, especially prevalent in the GCC. Their wealth may not have been “earned” in the traditional sense, but it is very much active - capital is being deployed, businesses are being reinvented, and opportunities are being seized with the backing of family reputations and resources.
Both groups carry the title of millionaire. Yet their financial realities diverge: one is climbing the hill of innovation, while the other is protecting inherited ground. Both face challenges - one must learn to preserve, the other must prove the ability to grow beyond the shadow of legacy.
The speed of wealth creation has changed beyond recognition. Three forces standout.
Technology as an equaliser: With a smartphone, anyone can reach customers, markets, and investors worldwide. Starting a business no longer requires vast infrastructure or physical presence; scalability is built into the digital model. That’s why we see teenagers running seven-figure businesses from their bedrooms.
Borderless capital: Crowdfunding, angel networks, and global venture firms have torn down the walls that once limited entrepreneurs to places like Silicon Valley. Capital is now mobile and opportunistic, flowing into Lagos as easily as London.
The GCC advantage: Nowhere is this accelerator effect more visible than in the Gulf. Zero personal income tax, state-backed growth agendas like Vision 2030, and abundant pools of private capital create an environment where young wealth can scale at a speed unmatched in traditional Western markets. A founder in Dubai doesn’t just have access to capital; they have access to a policy framework designed to encourage ambition and reward risk.
Globally, most billionaires under 30 inherited their wealth. Millionaires are a more mixed picture. Yet in the GCC, even those who appear “self-made” often start with family support - be it initial seed capital, introductions, or supply chain access. This doesn’t diminish the achievement, but it does mean the starting line is very different depending on where you stand.
Social media blurs these distinctions. On Instagram, the heir spending dividends on luxury looks no different to the entrepreneur reinvesting every dirham into their start-up. But financially, they are worlds apart. One group are “income millionaires” - living lavishly on high earnings or family support but without building an enduring asset base. The other are “balance sheet millionaires” - structuring, diversifying, and accumulating businesses and investments that can withstand downturns. Only the latter will remain wealthy when the market cycle turns.
The industries fuelling this new generation of wealth are split between the “new” and the “traditional.”
The new industries - crypto, gaming, the creator economy, AI ventures - are delivering some of the fastest fortunes in history. Yet in the GCC, enduring wealth still flows from traditional strongholds: real estate, energy, logistics, and large-scale infrastructure. What’s most interesting is how Gen Z founders are fusing these two worlds. AI-driven real estate platforms, blockchain-enabled logistics, and digital-first reinventions of family conglomerates show that it isn’t a question of choosing one over the other. The real success stories are hybrids, blending old and new into something uniquely sustainable.
A decade ago, most stories of young wealth began in the US or Western Europe. That dominance is gone.
Dubai and Riyadh have emerged as global players, producing young founders and attracting international ones. Singapore has carved out its niche in fintech and cross-border commerce. Lagos has become a hub of digital entrepreneurship and payments innovation. India’s tech unicorns, SaaS giants, and e-commerce platforms are redefining scale.
The GCC in particular is no longer a satellite to Western markets - it’s a permanent fixture in the global wealth conversation. And with every passing year, its role grows more central.
But let’s not confuse speed with stability. Fast money can vanish just as quickly as it arrives, a point I also raised in our earlier piece, where we looked at how quickly fortunes can shift without proper structures in place. A single market cycle can wipe out a crypto fortune, over-leverage in property can erase years of gains, and liquidity freezes can expose just how brittle some of these new empires really are. The young millionaires who will endure are those who learn early that wealth which isn’t structured is wealth at risk. The difference between an “income millionaire” and a “balance sheet millionaire” is exactly this: one spends, the other builds.
This is why guidance matters more than ever. Fragile wealth doesn’t need cheerleaders; it needs frameworks, discipline, and professional support that turns liquidity into resilience. Left unchecked, many of these new fortunes will disappear as quickly as they appeared. With the right structures in place, they can become new dynasties.
What sets the GCC apart is the cultural dimension of wealth. Here, money is rarely viewed as purely individual - it is bound to family reputation, legacy, and dynasty-building. That creates unique pressures. Short-term spenders risk burning through capital and reputation alike. Long-term planners, however, are laying the foundations of dynasties that will shape not only their family’s future but also the economic fabric of the region.
In this part of the world, wealth is not just about lifestyle. It is about stewardship, responsibility, and the obligation to pass something stronger to the next generation.
For those of us advising this new generation, the rise of Gen Z wealth is not just a demographic shift - it’s a complete transformation in expectations. They are digital-first, mobile-native, and globally connected. They expect clarity in real time, advice that travels across borders as easily as they do, and strategies that can flex as fast as the industries they are building in.
At Skybound Wealth, this is exactly where we’ve placed our focus. Technology sits at the centre of our proposition, not as a gimmick, but as a way of giving clients the immediacy and transparency they demand. Our multi-jurisdictional footprint means we can structure and protect wealth wherever it moves, across London, Dubai, Singapore, Riyadh, or beyond. And we combine that reach with the human edge - advisers who can guide fragile, fast-growing wealth with foresight, context, and discipline.
Wealth management for Gen Z isn’t about selling products; it’s about building ecosystems of resilience. And that is where the future lies.
The story of Gen Z wealth is not about overnight success - it’s about the convergence of opportunity, technology, and global capital flows. But it is also a story of fragility.
The names that will still be on the list in 20 years won’t be the ones chasing the loudest headlines or the riskiest bets. They’ll be the ones quietly diversifying, protecting, and building with a generational mindset.
In the GCC, the wealth being created today isn’t just reshaping bank accounts. It is reshaping families, economies, and legacies. And that is the real story worth paying attention to.
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