I Retired At 39 And Live On $185K A Year In Dubai

Jamal Robinson, 40, retired early in 2024 after saving almost a $4 million nest egg. He held positions at companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon. Today, Jamal lives as an American expat in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Here's how he spends his money.

This story is part of CNBC Make It's Millennial Money series, which details how people around the world earn, spend and save their money.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed a video of Georgia to Dubai.

Produced by: Lauren Shamo
Senior Managing Producer: Eric M. Clark
Camera: Jacqueline Nassour
Editor: Nic Golden Henry
Animator: Christina Locopo
Reporter: Jennifer Liu
Additional Footage: Jamal Robinson, Getty Images

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I Retired At 39 And Live On $185K A Year In Dubai

[DSF_]

Good for you. 4 million is a great number to retire on. You’ve unlocked freedom. The final level. Congrats

[town]

Imagine going to a club in Dubai, and your DJ is an ex Microsoft Executive lol

[ChewieTomatoes]

Bro is one wife away from coming out of retirement.

[IamJonny-ov]

My company paid a consultant to provide retirement classes when I was 24 and just started saving for retirement. The class was called "The Kids Table" and basically their advice was go with a target retirement fund that aligned with your 65th birthday. That was 20 years ago. It is the only thing I've ever invested in. How else can I grow my finance?

[vanessahopkins-gy]

Am 58 retiring next year but the thought of retirement gives me weakness. My apologies to everyone who have retired and filing social security during this time after putting in all those years of work just to lose everything to a problem you never imagined to happen. It’s so difficult for people who are retired and have no savings or loved ones to fall back on.

[chrishan]

Going from $74k salary to $1m needs more than 3 seconds of coverage in this video. His frugal mindset and reasonable job on their own would have taken him another 10-15 years to retire. The massive jump in salary is what made everything possible.

[christof]

You can see how humble he is as a retired millionaire. He does not wear jewelry or flash; he just enjoys the simple things in life: health, wealth, and happiness.

[mwood]

Fellow Black man here. This gave me such joy to see. This brother is living my dream. I visited Dubai in 2015 and also picked up immediately on many of the things he mentioned in this video: Dubai is vibrant, safe, stable, and friendly.

I’ve been working to get back ever since.

[RachelFoster-dg]

The amazing thing is that this guy knew what he wanted and stayed focused and serious about his goals. I’m 42, still working 2 jobs, and nowhere near being able to retire. Seeing someone retire at 28 just made me realize how far behind I am. I honestly don’t know what my retirement is going to look like, and that scares me.

[the.jrobinson]

Thanks everyone for watching my story. Glad it has been able to positively influence others. 🙂 I'm not an influencer or online often but I'll try to answer finance related questions I see in the comments periodically.

[heyaswinp]

First time a real person’s story that is relatable. No parent’s money or Youtube side business.

[Rogeraherr]

The high inflation is a significant reason why most retirees have sleepless nights. The increase in prices of everyday items puts them at risk of running out of money. As prices rise, the amount of money retirees can withdraw from their retirement savings also increases.

[tonysilke]

Retirement becomes truly fulfilling when you possess two essential elements: ample financial resources and a meaningful purpose in life. Make prudent investment choices to secure good returns and ensure a comfortable retirement.

[richhands]

My three favorite channels: CNBC Make It, Stock Brotha, & How Money Works. Make my week complete! 🔥 🔥 🔥

[kcmarie]

His voice is so soothing. I would love to listen to him on a podcast. Very soothing.

[lynwill]

I love how he pays himself 15 grand per month yet only spend nine grand per month. Congratulations on creating a wonderful life at a young age.👍

[АлексейШиркин-фь]

Thank you—this was exactly what I needed to see.
My wife and I are directors of our farm business, own property, and have modest pensions. I’m almost 55 and she’s 52.
We’ve started saving with the goal of retiring from farming and living off rental income. It would be incredibly helpful if you could go live and discuss how to build passive income streams online and retire comfortably—ideally reaching $1 million.

[sukhmindervirk]

This is probably one of the best Dubai ads I’ve seen. For all its critics, seeing someone live so free (racial burdens) is fantastic. Go Dubai 🇦🇪

[SlapI-jo]

At 32, I'm diving into investing for the first time. I’ve started contributing to my 401K and opened a Roth IRA with automatic contributions. My main question is whether asset allocation is crucial at this stage or if I'm just overthinking as a beginner.

[HexaBoxabl]

Every family has that one person who will break the family financial struggle, I hope you become the one😊