Brandon Arentson

Father of two little ones. Used FIRE to leave corporate and explore building. Love rockets, the outdoors, and experimenting with AI and business ideas.

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

@MurphyAJC @ajc A lot of very triggered MAGA folks in the comments here, seemingly incensed about you sharing objective data with zero analysis. Interesting!

[Geoff Duncan @GeoffDuncanGA]

Oddly enough @realDonaldTrump, losing by 50% still feels better than supporting you.

“Doing the right thing will never be the wrong thing”

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[Mike Levin @MikeLevin]

This New York Times piece is worth your time. Here’s what is happening, as simply as I can put it.

Back in January, Trump sued the IRS, an agency he controls, demanding $10 billion over the leak of his tax returns a number of years ago.

IRS lawyers did their jobs. They wrote a memo laying out the defenses that could beat the suit, including the fact that Trump filed too late. His own lawyer was in court when the leaker pleaded guilty in October 2023, more than two years before Trump sued.

The Justice Department never showed up to court. Never argued back. Never used the defenses sitting on their desk.

The judge got suspicious and ordered both sides to explain whether they were actually opposing each other or just colluding. The day before that brief was due, Trump dropped the suit.

Same day, his Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded “anti-weaponization fund.” 

Trump gets a formal apology. The IRS agrees to drop any audits of him and his family, even though a 2024 Times report found a loss in an ongoing audit could cost him over $100 million.

The acting Attorney General, Trump’s former criminal defense attorney, picks the five commissioners who decide who gets paid. Trump can fire any of them. Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are not ruled out.

This is the most corrupt thing I’ve ever seen from an American president.

Where in the hell are my Republican colleagues?

https://t.co/La0nlLuz1r

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

@PhillHatchet @Brick_Suit Yeah totally get it. And it does indeed look weird. Some automated controls clearly took over after the collision. And planes ain’t supposed to be like that!

But main thing here was that this was at an airshow and was witnessed by a whole crowd of people.

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

@PhillHatchet @Brick_Suit I actually really appreciate this comment. It’s the perfect illustration of the “I don’t understand a thing, therefore it must be fake” thinking that explains most conspiracy theories.

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

Such a good episode. Thought-provoking ideas all over the place.

One takeaway that was only discussed briefly: I do agree that this is like other transformations for the reasons you discussed. But I think the speed of this one actually WILL disrupt things more than past examples. Simply the speed of change will mean it takes times for all of the principles you talked about to make their impact.

And this one is unique because many workers are so anti-AI. So I think a lot of rounds of layoffs will happen before companies re-balance around whatever the future ends up looking like, and workers get the retraining they need to be ready for it.

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

This is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen

[mena @timoatreides]

paul atreides telling him through the subtitles to stand up and say “Let’s Go Knicks” and him doing so immediately 😭

[Anonymous @YourAnonNews]

@WhiteHouse Fixed it for you.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
#Anonymous

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

@WhiteHouse I am SO glad I just got mine renewed last month so I don’t have to carry this trash the next 10 years.

[Jonathan Goodman 🇨🇦 @itscoachgoodman]

Time spent with children spikes for a few years in your thirties and early forties before falling off a cliff. It’s a devastatingly short window. Blink and you’ll miss it. Slow down. Play Monopoly. Read them books on repeat. The time you spend with your children is never wasted.

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

@ramit @Bayes_Baller And could not agree more that life is way too expensive, and those in power are doing nothing to fix it. And NIMBY is a scourge on our society.

Also completely acknowledge that we have been lucky in many ways (relatively healthy, low mortgage rate). But we're not exceptional.

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

@ramit @Bayes_Baller Completely fair, and I over-simplified.

My comment was directed at people who do make $500k/yr in similar situations and think they can't retire.

It makes me sad that culture has told them they have to keep working and live paycheck to paycheck.

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

@SciGuySpace I honestly cannot believe how inept this statement is, especially after they took like 4 days to write it, and have known for months or years that this was an issue!

I guess when your PR team is not used to dealing with accountability, they become pretty bad it it?

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

@Bayes_Baller @ramit Or to be more charitable, many people have been taught that it’s out of their control, when that’s just not true.

And living below our means (while not suffering at all) has meant when I got laid off earlier this year, I don’t need to find another job.

It’s all worth it.

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

@Bayes_Baller @ramit Yup. Wife and I only made $500k+ for the first time this year. And we have ~$3M invested. That number was like $100k a decade ago when we met and hadn’t heard of FIRE.

And we’ve spent pretty freely, just intentionally, during that time.

It’s 100% a skill issue.

[Ramit Sethi @ramit]

Here is how you become extremely wealthy in this scenario:

Early 20s:
- Save 20% of gross income
- Live CHEAPLY w/a roommate. It doesn't matter because you're working + going out all the time. Eat out, grab drinks, have fun.
- Every year, increase your investment contribution rate by 1%. Low-cost index funds

Late 20s:
- Your income has increased by at least $100K. Congratulations!
- Take a vacation, slightly elevated. Let yourself connect your hard work with a beautiful hotel stay.
- Be generous to the people in your life. Tip 30%. Leave $50/night for your housekeepers. You can afford it. Train yourself to be generous and you will enjoy the benefits for a lifetime
- Build a 12-month emergency fund. OK if it takes a few years to hit it
- Save for specific upcoming life moments like a wedding (even if you're not in a relationship), a car, a house, children, etc. I did exactly this and was able to splurge on a beautiful wedding and amazing honeymoon
- Upgrade your apartment if you want. DO NOT BUY AN APT/HOUSE/EXPENSIVE CAR YET. You're living in a city where it makes no financial sense to buy (NYC/LA/SF) and your ability to change jobs is more valuable than a mortgage

Early 30s:
- You've socked away a huge amount of investments. If that simply compounds for the next 30 years, you're incredibly wealthy
- Increase your spending -- you earned it! You can afford to rent a nicer apartment. Get some new clothes. You can even pause the 1%-a-year increases to your investment contribution rate
- Be mindful as you date. Your partner will be the single-biggest financial decision you make. Your partner doesn't have to be wealthy, but they need to be interested in money and share your values. I CANNOT OVERSTATE THIS. Read my book, Money For Couples, together
- Lots of people at this age decide to pursue entrepreneurship. You have the savings and relatively low burn to make this easy. Set a target for how long you'll go before you shut down a poorly performing idea. Constraints are a good thing
- If not, focus on sustainability. You've already saved up 7 figures. That will compound to 8 figures doing nothing -- just time. Start to develop an answer to the question, "What's enough?" Most people never do. You can.

Making this kind of income makes wealth very easy, but you have to make 5 key life decisions correct -- and be lucky enough that health/other life circumstances go in your favor. Now go live your Rich Life

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

@DividendGrowth Could not agree more. Been pursuing FI for about a decade, and had kids and bought a bigger house during that time, while traveling plenty. Just kept spending intentional. Got laid off in Jan, and now don’t need to get a new job til…forever? It’s life changing in the best way.

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

@Random__Kids @DKThomp You really don’t have to pretend like you don’t understand…

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

@Random__Kids @DKThomp Just to be super clear, Animal Farm is about a party that overthrew authoritarians, which is then slowly coopted by an authoritarian to carry out their fascist goals, ultimately becoming what it originally overthrew. This maps extremely well onto Trump and the Republican party.

[Brandon Arentson @RocketsAreFun_]

@Random__Kids @DKThomp The N*zi party called itself the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

China calls itself The People’s Republic of China.

North Korea calls itself the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Please look beyond the words that fascists use to describe themselves.