From selling toys to investing: Saif Al Naqbi’s lessons on winning financial freedom

Dubai: Today, Saif Al Naqbi is a successful Emirati entrepreneur, a pro investor with a large following of copy traders and the founder of Sahab School for financial literacy.

But none of that came with a title or status handed to him. It was built through years of hard work, careful study and lessons learnt along the way.

Long before Al Naqbi was running businesses, teaching financial literacy or managing investments, he was learning some of his first lessons about money behind a school canteen counter.

Growing up in Dubai, he remembers helping to sell items at his government school, handling cash, calculating purchases and giving fellow pupils their change. At home, entrepreneurship took another form: he would sell his old toys so he could buy new ones.

They were small transactions, but they planted the seeds of something much bigger.

“Through those exchanges, I began learning the basics of buying and selling, how to assess the value of what I owned, and how to use the resources available to me to achieve a goal,” he says.

His father, who worked in trade, gave him another early window into the world of business.

“Being close to his experience gave me an early understanding of business and showed me that success requires effort, attention and knowledge developed over time.”

An ambition that started early

For Al Naqbi, there was never much doubt about the direction he wanted his life to take.

“I wanted to become an entrepreneur and investor, build a recognised name in the UAE and make a contribution I could be proud of.”

That ambition extended to the classroom. In primary school, he ranked first across the emirate and was recognised by His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah.

“That recognition meant a great deal to me. It strengthened my confidence, encouraged me to keep working hard and inspired me to set higher ambitions.”

Al Naqbi went on to study at universities in the UAE and California, specialising in Business Administration. His doctoral research focuses on the impact of global markets on investor anxiety and investment decision-making.

He also drew inspiration from the UAE’s leadership, particularly interviews with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, as well as the projects and initiatives being developed around him.

“One of the most important lessons I took from it was that ambition requires initiative and sustained effort,” he says.

Trading, learning and getting the numbers right

Al Naqbi began trading in different fields while still a student, before moving into delivery and services and, eventually, education and training.

Those first ventures brought lessons that textbooks could not.

“Enthusiasm helps you get started, but staying in business requires an understanding of the numbers, control over expenses, attention to detail and commitment to customers,” he says.

He also learnt an important distinction: activity does not necessarily equal success.

“Sales alone do not necessarily indicate a healthy business. There is a difference between generating activity and building an operation that can deliver returns and sustain itself.”

Failures mattered too. They taught him to question his assumptions and, crucially, recognise when a plan needed to change.

“Knowing when to persist, when to adjust course and when to reconsider an idea has become one of the entrepreneurial skills I value most.”

Leaving a secure career behind

Before committing himself fully to entrepreneurship, Al Naqbi worked in government and diplomacy. His original plan was to remain at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, work towards becoming an ambassador and build investments alongside his diplomatic career.

Then he changed course.

Rather than simply walking away from the security of public service, he says he first worked towards building assets that could cover his expenses.

“Resigning was difficult. I was leaving a career I valued, a good income and a future I had planned for years.”

But he went ahead, choosing to concentrate on investing, managing his businesses and teaching financial management.

Approximately four to five years after resigning, he describes it as “the best decision I have made”.

It was not instant success.

Al Naqbi says the toughest period was the roughly two years he spent proving that his businesses could deliver genuine results for customers.

“That experience taught me that reputation and growth take time, and that the strongest foundation for a lasting business is keeping your promises and providing value people can experience for themselves.”

Why financial education became personal

Of his different ventures, Al Naqbi says Sahab School’s professional training business has taught him the most.

Working directly with learners showed him how wide the differences in financial knowledge could be. It also convinced him that understanding a subject is very different from knowing how to teach it.

“For me, the real measure of success is whether people can use what they learn in their own lives.”

He became particularly concerned about people encountering educational content centred on short-term speculation and potential profits without adequately explaining the risks.

“I encountered people who had lost money without fully understanding the activities they were entering into.”

His response was to put capital preservation and risk management at the centre of his teaching.

“Investing involves risk,” he says, while understanding those risks, diversification and avoiding rushed decisions can help people manage their money more responsibly.

Sahab School is open to anyone with a desire to learn and develop their mindset. Al Naqbi says his wider ambition is to make financial knowledge understandable and practical rather than complicated or disconnected from everyday life.

What does ‘copy trading’ mean?

Al Naqbi is also a pro investor whose trades are copied by other investors.

Put simply, copy trading allows an investor to automatically replicate the trades made by another investor. Instead of independently placing each corresponding trade, their account follows the selected investor’s trading activity.

For Al Naqbi, however, the bigger message remains education rather than simply following someone else’s decisions.

Financial freedom is not about getting rich quickly

One idea Al Naqbi returns to repeatedly is financial freedom. But his definition has little to do with overnight wealth.

“I define financial freedom as having a degree of stability and choice that allows you to meet your commitments and plan your life without financial pressure being the deciding factor in every decision.”

Among the misconceptions, he says, are that financial freedom requires an enormous fortune, comes through quick profits or means never having to work again.

Instead, he describes it as a gradual process: understand where you are financially, organise spending, develop saving habits, strengthen income sources and make considered investment decisions appropriate to your circumstances.

“It is a gradual process that requires discipline and regular review, and the path and pace will differ for everyone.”

The money lessons he wants young people to learn

Al Naqbi would like financial literacy to become a continuous part of education in the UAE, taught through practical experiences appropriate to different ages.

For younger pupils, that might mean learning to prepare a simple budget, save towards a goal and understand the difference between needs and wants. Later, education could progress to borrowing, investing and risk.

Parents have a role too, he says, by talking about money and involving children in simple financial decisions.

The goal is straightforward: young people should reach their first salary or financial commitment already equipped with the foundations to make informed choices.

Looking ahead, Al Naqbi wants Sahab School to reach more learners, while using artificial intelligence and financial technology to make education more personalised.

But he stresses that technology must be accompanied by “accurate content, human oversight and data protection”.

His advice to young investors: learn first

After a journey that has taken him from childhood buying and selling to diplomacy, entrepreneurship, investment and financial education, Al Naqbi’s advice is strikingly simple.

“Invest in your understanding before you invest your money.”

Before putting money into anything, he says, an investor should be capable of answering three basic questions:

And there is another trap to avoid.

“Do not let excitement or the fear of missing out drive your decisions. Give yourself time to learn and verify information.”

For Al Naqbi, that thinking goes to the heart of both investing and entrepreneurship. Success is less about chasing the next opportunity than understanding what you are doing, taking responsibility for the decision and knowing when to rethink it.

“A good decision is judged by the clarity of its reasoning, an understanding of its risks and how well it fits your circumstances.”

After all, his own story began with much the same principle: learn the value of what you have, understand the numbers and use that knowledge to take the next step.