This former minimum-wage worker retired at 39 with $3.5M. Now he’s living on $185K/year in Dubai. How did he do it?

“I didn’t see a lot of people that were happy with work,” Robinson told CNBC. “In my mind, I always thought that it made the most sense to compress that amount of time in my life. So at 17, I set the goal to retire early at 45, which I wound up hitting six years earlier than expected (1).”

Robinson’s journey from minimum-wage worker to multimillionaire retiree is an extraordinary example of the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early). Advocates of this approach make a ruthless commitment to saving and investing so that they can retire as young as possible.

This philosophy has drawn criticism from financial experts, such as Suze Orman, who wrote in a 2018 blog post, “The math of that makes absolutely no sense (2).”

Though she was broadly sympathetic to the idea of working towards financial independence, Orman raised concerns that the 4% rule wasn’t made to handle the strain of someone with a far longer drawdown runway than the average retiree.

“[T]hat strategy was designed to work for someone who retired at 65 and wanted to make sure their money had a solid chance of outlasting them. What works for 25-30 years shouldn’t be assumed to work for 50-60 years,” she wrote.

How Jamal did it

After high school, Robinson hustled through college, earning a computer engineering degree at Tennessee Tech on a full-ride scholarship while working at the same time. Over time, with an MBA, nine certifications, and expertise in generative AI, he eventually reached an income of $1.1 million per year.

But instead of chasing the next promotion, he chose financial freedom. Old habits die hard: As he progressed in the tech industry, Robinson banked huge sums — at one point socking away nearly 90% of his income. Then, in 2024, at just 39 years of age, he retired with $3.5 million in savings and investments. He now produces music and DJs in his spare time. He's also writing a book and producing a podcast.

Strategies to make anyone financially free

Robinson’s story most likely doesn’t resonate with the average American. According to the Federal Reserve’s 2023 Survey of Consumer Finances, which is published every three years, Americans ages 35 to 44 have an estimated net worth of $546,600 (3).

While Robinson’s hard-earned success may be an outlier, it’s a blueprint anyone can follow: finding a way to save small amounts while spending can also help boost your retirement portfolio.

Get expert advice to build your portfolio

Robinson didn’t rely on luck or hot tips when it came to choosing where to invest his money. He invested deliberately and stuck to a long-term plan.

If you’re looking to build a portfolio with the same kind of intention, expert insight can help point you in the right direction.

If you want to diversify your portfolio and invest in individual stocks, jargon-free expert advice from Moby might be for you.

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Hedge your portfolio with gold

Jamal Robinson proved that directing extra income into investments can shave decades off your working years. The more you save now, the faster your money can work for you.

Saving and investing are only part of the equation. Protecting what you’ve already built matters too. That’s why some investors consider adding assets designed to hedge against market risk.

Gold has historically been one of the most popular safe-haven assets. Amid rising market volatility due to both recession concerns and escalating geopolitical tensions, gold prices hit a record high of over $4,300 per ounce in October (4).

One way to invest in gold that also provides significant tax advantages is to open a gold IRA with the help of Goldco.

Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account — combining the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold. This makes it an attractive option for those looking to potentially hedge their retirement funds against economic uncertainties.

Even better, you can often roll over existing 401(k) or IRA accounts into a gold IRA without tax-related penalties. To learn more, get your free gold and silver information guide.

With a minimum investment of $10,000, Goldco offers free shipping and access to a library of retirement resources. Plus, the company will match up to 10% of qualified purchases in free silver.

Invest in real estate without the headache of being a landlord

Real estate investments could also be a potentially lucrative way to diversify your portfolio, and new investing platforms are making it easier than ever to tap into this market.

Crowdfunding platforms like Arrived allow you to enter the real estate market for as little as $100.

Arrived offers you access to shares of SEC-qualified investments in rental homes and vacation rentals, curated and vetted for their appreciation and income potential.

Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived makes it easy to fit these properties into your investment portfolio regardless of your income level. Their flexible investment amounts and simplified process allow accredited and non-accredited investors to take advantage of this inflation-hedging asset class without any extra work on your part.

Invest like a mogul

Another option is real estate platform Mogul, which allows you to invest in the top 1% of single-family rental homes nationwide.

Founded by former Goldman Sachs analysts, Mogul’s team vets every single property, ensuring they offer a minimum 12% return even in downside scenarios. Across the board, the platform features an average annual IRR of 18.8%. Their cash-on-cash yields average between 10% and 12% annually. You can earn monthly rental income, as well as real-time capital appreciation and tax benefits — all without the need for a hefty downpayment or 3 A.M. tenant calls.

Every investment is secured by real assets, not dependent on the platform’s viability. Each property is held in a standalone Propco LLC, so investors own the property — not the platform.

Getting started is a quick and easy process. You can sign up for an account and then browse available properties. Once you verify your information with their team, you can invest like a mogul in just a few clicks.

Diversify your portfolio with a finer alternative

In 1999, the S&P 500 peaked, and it took 14 long years to fully recover.