Going from making minimum wage and trying to save as much as you can and counting every penny to now being able to spend whatever you want, it's been a journey.

從掙最低工資、儘量省吃儉用、計算每一分錢，到現在可以想怎麼花就怎麼花，這真是一段心路歷程。

I'm Jamal Robinson, I'm an American expat retiree living off of about $185,000 in Dubai.

我叫賈馬爾-羅賓遜，是一名美國外籍退休人員，在迪拜靠大約 18.5 萬美元生活。

I actually decided to retire at 17 years old.

實際上，我在 17 歲時就決定退休了。

I was working at Taco Bell, believe it or not at that age I was able to look around at the job market and I didn't see a lot of people that were happy with work.

我當時在塔可鍾（Taco Bell）餐廳工作，信不信由你，在那個年紀，我能夠環顧就業市場，我沒有看到很多人對工作感到滿意。

I learned that it's really important to make sure that you're working and you have your own relationship with work and you're not doing something that you don't want to do.

我認識到，確保自己在工作，確保自己與工作的關係，確保自己沒有做自己不想做的事情，這一點非常重要。

So in my mind I always thought that it made the most sense to compress that amount of time in my life and I set the goal to retire early at 45, which I wound up hitting six years earlier than expected.

是以，在我心中，我一直認為壓縮生命中的時間是最有意義的，我設定了 45 歲提前退休的目標，結果比預期提前了六年。

As soon as I retired I went out and I explored and so far I've spent about nine countries and 15 cities and I've been loving it.

一退休，我就出去探險，到目前為止，我已經在 9 個國家、15 座城市度過了美好時光。

What I love most about Dubai is it really caters to people that have been retired and are looking for a lot of services and activities.

我最喜歡迪拜的一點是，它真正迎合了已經退休、正在尋找大量服務和活動的人們的需求。

I found that most often the things that were promised to me in America actually existed here.

我發現，在美國向我許諾的東西往往在這裡真實存在。

So the levels of safety, the levels of like integration of people into society where everyone's accepted.

是以，安全程度、人們融入社會的程度，就像每個人都被接納一樣。

Over the weekend for fun I find myself going out and just exploring new areas.

週末的時候，我發現自己會外出遊玩，探索新的領域。

So I may go out to the creek and just walk around and look at the boats and meet people as I walk.

所以，我可能會去小溪邊走走，看看小船，邊走邊和人打招呼。

To people's surprise Dubai is actually much cheaper for me than living in most of the major American cities I've been in.

出乎人們意料的是，對我來說，迪拜實際上比我去過的大多數美國大城市都要便宜得多。

Dubai allows you to live the kind of lifestyle that you want to live and it allows for a lot of different price ranges.

迪拜可以讓你過上自己想要的生活方式，而且價格範圍也多種多樣。

Every month I pay myself about $15,400 for the month and of that $15,400 I wind up spending about $9,000.

每個月我都要給自己支付大約 15 400 美元，而在這 15 400 美元中，我最終要花費大約 9 000 美元。

Food I definitely don't go cheap on.

食物，我絕對不會貪小便宜。

I typically allocate about $2,000 per month.

我通常每月撥款約 2000 美元。

I go out and eat a lot of times when I have friends and people that I can entertain.

當我有朋友和可以招待的人時，我會經常出去吃飯。

And then as far as home I'll still cook quite a lot.

至於家裡，我還是會經常做飯。

December was a unique month for me because I'm on a kind of expat private insurance.

12 月對我來說是一個特殊的月份，因為我參加了一種外籍人士私人保險。

I had to pay about $1,600 out of pocket for some medication.

我不得不自費 1600 美元購買一些藥物。

My doctor's visits were anywhere from $200 to $300 a piece.

我看病的費用從 200 美元到 300 美元不等。

So it totaled up to be a lot higher.

所以加起來要高出很多。

When it comes to getting around for transit in Dubai I'm a little bit sad about this because I don't have a car.

說到迪拜的交通，我有點難過，因為我沒有車。

I use a service here where I get access to a driver and the driver drives me all around the city.

我在這裡使用一項服務，我可以獲得一名司機的服務，司機會開車帶我環遊整個城市。

So I pay my four to $600 a month and use that for transportation.

是以，我每月支付四到六百美元，用於交通。

The place that I'm currently living in is two bedrooms and it's roughly about 900 square feet.

我現在住的地方有兩間臥室，大約 900 平方英尺。

It's right off the beach and in a premium area for Dubai.

它緊鄰海灘，位於迪拜的黃金地段。

And this place costs about $5,000 per month.

而這個地方的月租金約為 5000 美元。

How I live now is I'm actually spending a lot more than I typically would.

我現在的生活方式是，我實際上花的錢比平時要多得多。

My relationship growing up with money was definitely one of discipline.

我在成長過程中與金錢的關係無疑是一種紀律。

Without really consciously thinking through it I chose to save a lot.

在沒有經過深思熟慮的情況下，我選擇了大量儲蓄。

Now as I've been able to reflect a lot as an adult, also see where I have a scarcity mindset and maybe not a healthy relationship with money in the sense of I wanted to hoard it.

現在，我已經長大成人，有了很多反思，也看到了自己的匱乏心態，也許我與金錢的關係並不健康，我想囤積錢財。

Luckily I've been able to graduate to a place where I'm much more comfortable.

幸運的是，我已經畢業了，到了一個讓我更自在的地方。

I've been opening up the checkbook and spending more.

我打開支票簿，花了更多錢。

Growing up I didn't get much knowledge on money and investments and things that I'm focused on now.

在我的成長過程中，我並沒有獲得太多關於金錢和投資的知識，而這些正是我現在所關注的。

I think my parents coming from lower middle and class homes were more so focused on survival as many people might be.

我想，我的父母來自中下層家庭，和許多人一樣，他們更注重生存。

My parents had worked pretty hard in their life and I just saw the wear and tear that that took on them.

我的父母一生辛勤勞作，我看到了他們的磨損。

So I wanted to be careful to not be in a similar situation and have to work and just give all of my life source and energy to a job for the remainder of my life.

是以，我想小心謹慎，避免陷入類似的境地，不得不工作，不得不在餘生中把所有的生命源泉和精力都奉獻給一份工作。

I didn't know how I was going to do it but those factors really contributed to me wanting to retire at an early age.

我不知道自己該怎麼做，但這些因素確實促使我想早點退休。

Climbing up the corporate ladder was not easy but I definitely aggressively climbed up the corporate ladder.

在企業的階梯上攀登並不容易，但我絕對是積極地向上爬。

I moved to Austin, Texas, worked at this amazing startup called Infochimps and made a lot of great connections there and that accelerated me into tech which later led to IBM, Amazon, Intel, Microsoft and a few others.

我搬到了德克薩斯州的奧斯汀，在一家名為 Infochimps 的神奇初創公司工作，在那裡結識了很多很棒的人脈，這加速了我進入技術行業的步伐，後來我又進入了 IBM、亞馬遜、英特爾、微軟和其他一些公司。

So I always kept my eyes open for new opportunities.

是以，我總是睜大眼睛尋找新的機會。

Also made sure that I was as valuable as possible and I would say my salary went from about $40,000 to about $60,000 to about $64,000 and then that's when I had one of my bigger jumps.

我的工資從大約 4 萬美元漲到大約 6 萬美元，再漲到大約 6.4 萬美元。

And then after that I went to north of $1 million.

之後，我的收入達到了 100 萬美元。

So when I got the big jump, at most I may go out and get a meal, a lot of times I didn't even do that.

是以，當我跳槽時，我最多可能出去吃一頓飯，很多時候甚至連飯都沒得吃。

I always remind people that in my head I'm still the guy that's making a minimum wage working at Taco Bell.

我總是提醒人們，在我的腦海裡，我還是那個在塔可鍾（Taco Bell）餐廳掙最低工資的人。

So when people see these large salaries or ask me, hey, how did it feel to make over a million a year?

所以，當人們看到這些高薪，或者問我，嘿，年薪過百萬是什麼感覺？

I often tell them, I don't know, it felt like making not quite minimum wage but also not like making a million a year.

我經常跟他們說，我不知道，感覺就像掙的不是最低工資，但也不像年薪百萬。

I would make a million a year and I would struggle to spend over $50 on items.

我一年能掙一百萬，卻很難在物品上花費超過 50 美元。

There definitely was a certain amount of money that I wanted to hit when I retire.

退休時，我肯定想賺到一筆錢。

Over the years that has changed.

多年來，情況發生了變化。

It started off in the low $1.5 million, then it got up to $5 million, then $20 million and at some point I realized that with what I need in life, I settled on my number which is around $4 million.

一開始是 150 萬美元，後來漲到 500 萬美元，再後來是 2000 萬美元，到了後來，我意識到我的生活需要什麼，我就確定了我的數字，大約是 400 萬美元。

Some of the biggest misconceptions about retirement or at the very least things that people need to know is that retirement is not a destination.

關於退休的一些最大誤解，或者至少人們需要知道的是，退休不是終點。

It's really a new phase of life.

這確實是人生的一個新階段。

I want to maximize my life experiences and not keep saving money for the future.

我想最大限度地豐富我的人生經歷，而不是一直為將來存錢。

Part of retiring was so I could explore my hobbies more and the hobbies that I have are typically in the space of creativity.

退休的部分原因是為了能更多地探索自己的愛好，而我的愛好通常都是創造性方面的。

I DJ in my spare time.

我在業餘時間做 DJ。

I've always had a love for music so as I've gotten older and got more aware of technologies that exist, I've gotten more into producing music and just playing around with sounds.

我一直對音樂情有獨鍾，所以隨著年齡的增長和對現有技術的瞭解，我越來越喜歡製作音樂和玩弄各種聲音。

When it comes to choosing where I live, I have a matrix of about 14 things that qualify safety, the amount of singles that they have as I'm still single, the population, how diverse it is, the government, how stable it is, the currency and a few other things and Dubai hit pretty high on that list.

在選擇居住地時，我有一個矩陣，其中包含約 14 個方面，包括安全、單身人數（因為我還是單身）、人口、多樣性、政府、穩定程度、貨幣和其他一些方面，迪拜在這些方面都名列前茅。

What I love the most about Dubai is the cultural diversity.

我最喜歡迪拜的是它的文化多樣性。

There's people from literally all over the world so immediately I was able to come and feel at home.

這裡的人來自世界各地，所以我一來就有了家的感覺。

On top of that, it's very centrally located so I can travel to the US or travel to the East and check out various like Southeast Asian countries along with Australia and then at the same time, there's just a lot to do here.

此外，這裡的地理位置非常優越，我可以去美國或東方旅行，看看東南亞國家和澳洲，同時，這裡還有很多事情可以做。

As an American expat that's also black, I would say my experience has been very different than what I'm used to.

作為一名同樣是黑人的美國外籍人士，我想說我的經歷與我所習慣的截然不同。

In America, you're typically identified as a black person first and then after that you're an engineer or a janitor or whatever they want to label you as and I would say that as I've traveled around the world, as soon as I open my mouth and people hear the accent, I typically get categorized with the rest of Americans so quite often, I don't feel my blackness.

在美國，你通常首先會被認定為黑人，然後才會被認定為工程師或清潔工，或者他們想給你貼上的任何標籤。我想說的是，在我周遊世界的過程中，只要我一開口，人們聽到我的口音，我通常就會被歸類為其他美國人，所以很多時候，我感覺不到自己是黑人。

It's almost like you're celebrated and people will come up to you and they want to talk and engage with you so I found that it's been maybe for the first time in my life, a privilege to be a black person and it's been really beneficial.

我發現，這也許是我有生以來第一次有幸成為一名黑人，這讓我受益匪淺。

Overall, I find that I'm more happy and more at peace and it's just much better here than where I was living before.

總的來說，我發現自己更快樂、更平靜了，這裡比我以前住的地方好多了。

I do plan to travel in the very near future.

我確實計劃在不久的將來旅行。

I'm going back to Amsterdam.

我要回阿姆斯特丹。

I'm also going to Bangkok, Thailand.

我還要去泰國曼谷。

I was thinking about checking out South Africa and for various reasons, I'm going to head back to the U.S. for a little while.

我想去南非看看，但由於種種原因，我打算回美國住一段時間。

And as far as what's actually next, I would say, I try not to think in the typical term of what's next.

至於下一步該怎麼走，我想說的是，我儘量不去想下一步該怎麼走。

As long as I can retain those emotional states and make sure that I'm also doing so while adding value to the world, I'm okay with it.

只要我能保持這些情感狀態，並確保在為世界創造價值的同時也能做到這一點，我就沒問題。