How personal tragedy motivated this engineer to achieve FI and retire early, with Adam Fortuna

#44: One common trait of ordinary people who accomplish extraordinary things is their ability to turn personal struggle and tragedy into resilient energy channeled toward big goals.And one of the most challenging tragedies ordinary people commonly face is the death of an immediate family member.This week, I talk with Adam Fortuna, an engineer who turned his mother’s untimely death into motivation to achieve financial independence and retire early – which he did at age 36 with a portfolio >$2M.We discuss:How Adam got into software development, then transitioned into product managementHow his mother’s premature death suddenly forced him to figure out how to manage and invest assets…and why it made him realize he wanted to retire earlyHow he applied an estimation technique used in the software development industry to come up with his FIRE numberWhy moving states cost him 6 figures in taxesHow his boss reacted when he pulled the trigger and gave noticeHow his portfolio crashed 30% when he quit his job…and why that didn’t faze himWhy he scrutinizes trailing averages (rather than specific months) when analyzing his safe withdrawal rateHow he uses the 4% rule as a heuristic, but doesn’t apply it strictlyHow he handles health insurance post-retirementThe simple Google spreadsheet plugin he uses to import all his financial data into Google sheets for manual number crunchingWhat personal life events motivated YOU to get smart about your finances? How would a windfall impact your retirement plans? Let me know by leaving a comment when you’re done.Don't miss an episode, hit that subscribe button...If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any upcoming episodes!Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcherI need your help, please leave a listener review :)If you liked this episode, would you please leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts? It’d mean the world to me and your review also helps others find my podcast, too!Links mentioned in this episode:MinafiTiller (automatically export personal finance data into Google spreadsheets)HYW private Facebook communityIntro/Outro: Old Bossa by Twin Musicom.