You're right that I don't know MMMs specifics. But I think at this stage I'm justified in being skeptical of anyone who claims to be self-made - far too many people gloss over their inherited advantages. It's possible he's one of the exceptions.
No doubt much of his advice is correct, and all of it well-intended. But one has to be careful about advice from people in very different circumstances. They can get it disasterously wrong.
Landlords absolutely do make large, unearned amounts of money. Think about it for a minute: MMM is a finance expert, why would he put his money there if it didn't generate the best return. The idle rich (rentiers) in general are hated, but landlords in particular make additional money through sharp practices. The profession inherently involves (legal) tax avoidance, because a landlord makes a lot of their money through appreciation of their properties which is not taxed, and their rental income is usually taxed at a lower rate than ordinary earnings. Finally, while it's unfair to pin this on MMM, many landlords take advantage (wittingly or not) of their tenants' ignorance of their rights.
Finally, when a rich person says "it's easy to make money", it's a very small step from there to "the reason I have more money than you is that I'm smarter/more self-controlled/etc." Which is often a lie; often inherited privilege has a much bigger impact than personal qualities.
> their rental income is usually taxed at a lower rate than ordinary earnings.
Not in the US. Rental income is income. I think you may be referring to deductions, which exist, but are not nearly as advantageous as taxing rental income at a lower rate outright.
We're all embedded in an economic infrastructure, that's unavoidable. Its not black/white. Everything from the internet to traffic lights helps speed commerce, and all of us inherit benefits from society.
So circumstances are everything, that part rings true. We're born into a good bit of that, and trained into the rest. From accent, to attitudes about race and religion we spend our lives accumulating advantages and albatrosses.
No doubt much of his advice is correct, and all of it well-intended. But one has to be careful about advice from people in very different circumstances. They can get it disasterously wrong.
Landlords absolutely do make large, unearned amounts of money. Think about it for a minute: MMM is a finance expert, why would he put his money there if it didn't generate the best return. The idle rich (rentiers) in general are hated, but landlords in particular make additional money through sharp practices. The profession inherently involves (legal) tax avoidance, because a landlord makes a lot of their money through appreciation of their properties which is not taxed, and their rental income is usually taxed at a lower rate than ordinary earnings. Finally, while it's unfair to pin this on MMM, many landlords take advantage (wittingly or not) of their tenants' ignorance of their rights.
Finally, when a rich person says "it's easy to make money", it's a very small step from there to "the reason I have more money than you is that I'm smarter/more self-controlled/etc." Which is often a lie; often inherited privilege has a much bigger impact than personal qualities.