A guy buying 27 BTC now can be the guy buying a 1 million penthouse in 10 years, but most people will not wait enough to see the fruits of hard work and dedication consistently over time. Thats why very few people make it as long term holders, most will sell before the big price.
It's easy to see why someone would buy in 2009 and forget. It was less than nowhere back then. These days future explosions are surely in the back of everyone's mind. I've no doubt that people will flake out before it really goes places but this time around they'd be very dim not to keep a tiny bit of skin in the game.