While I know contractors who have worked the same job for many years, this is not the standard, they're not making $1000/day and they have huge risk exposure. For the rest of us you don't work 10 months a year and vacation for 2. You spend a lot of non-billable time lining up work and selling. Then when you get that work it's (a) gross income, (b) temporary and (c) rarely remote at the start. Add to this giant pile of preconditions that a guaranteed 5% return doesn't exist in the world today and this "advice" is essentially: "My single data point => ??? => PROFIT!"