I could see this playing out for the employed, but I bet this doesn't really work for the self-employed or anyone who switched to business ownership from a career. I think I've made more in the past year than the first several years of my "career" (which was a pittance, I am no Rockefeller now..) and don't think this is unusual once you get traction based on some of the stories and income reports I've seen on HN.