Tony Barzar is a cashier at Costco. He earns $32.90 an hour, owns a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a pool that his family bought in 2009, has travelled to Europe twice, and has over $1 million saved in his retirement account. At 62, he has no plans to stop working. “I could retire, but what would I do? Costco has been good to me,” he told the Wall Street Journal, which first published his story on July 13, 2026 as part of a broader report on Costco’s unusual approach to retail compensation.
Barzar’s path to millionaire status on an hourly retail wage did not involve stock tips, side hustles, or inheritance. It came down to one decision made in 1993: when Price Club converted to Costco’s 401(k) plan, Barzar started contributing a portion of every paycheck into a T. Rowe Price-administered retirement account. He kept doing it through good years and bad as his hourly rate climbed steadily from around $10 in the 1990s to the $32.90 he takes home today. Decades of consistent contributions, compounding investment returns, and Costco’s 401(k) matching did the rest. His story is not about luck. It is about arithmetic and an employer whose compensation model made the arithmetic work.
Barzar also credited Costco’s healthcare coverage as a defining factor in his financial stability. When his wife was diagnosed with stage 3 brain cancer, the company’s insurance covered the full cost of three brain surgeries. Without that coverage, any savings accumulated over two decades could have been wiped out entirely. “I didn’t think me and my family would reach where we sit now,” he said.
“This Costco cashier makes $33/hour. He’s also a millionaire with a house, a pool, and two trips to Europe. His story is less about luck than it is the financial arithmetic of staying put at a company that makes doing so worthwhile — 401(k) matching, pay raises, and healthcare that covered his wife’s three brain surgeries.”~Moneywise
Barzar Is Not an Outlier: “Many Thousands” of Costco Workers Are Millionaires
What makes the story bigger than one individual is what Costco’s own CFO said alongside it. Gary Millerchip confirmed in the Wall Street Journal report that “many thousands” of Costco’s US hourly workers have 401(k) balances exceeding $1 million. That is a remarkable figure for a company where most employees work the checkout line, the warehouse floor, or the food court. Costco has a long-standing policy of paying wages well above the retail industry average. Its median retail competitor pays around $16.30 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Costco’s hourly ceiling for its most tenured workers recently rose to $32.90, and the company also sweetened its package for employees hitting the 30-year mark adding a larger annual bonus and additional paid vacation days. A new three-year employee agreement signed in 2025 locks in further $1-per-hour increases in March 2026 and March 2027. The company’s minimum wage now stands at $21 per hour, more than double the federal minimum.
“Costco benefits and employee retention make it possible for hourly workers to become millionaires. Costco cashier Tony Barzar earns $32.90/hour, has over $1 million in his 401(k), owns a home with a pool and has taken two trips to Europe — all on a retail wage.”~Black Enterprise
The Formula Behind the Wealth: Low Turnover, High Benefits and Decades of Compounding
Costco’s high-wage model is not philanthropy, it is a strategy. The company’s employee turnover rate is among the lowest in the retail sector, which means it spends far less on recruitment, training, and onboarding than competitors who constantly cycle through minimum-wage workers. Long-tenured employees like Barzar are more productive, more knowledgeable, and more trusted by customers. The financial result, for both the company and the worker, compounds over time. Barzar’s wealth did not happen in a year or even a decade. It happened over three decades of consistent 401(k) contributions matched by an employer with the financial discipline to keep making those matches year after year.
The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants has noted that when evaluating any job, workers should specifically ask whether there is a 401(k) match, what percentage is matched, and how long the vesting period is. At Costco, those questions have consistent and favourable answers which is why the same story Barzar is telling has been quietly repeated across thousands of other Costco employees who will retire as millionaires without having earned a six-figure salary a single day in their lives.
“A lot of people don’t see a career in customer service as a path to financial freedom. But Costco cashier Tony Barzar has $1 million in retirement savings, a home with a pool, and two Europe trips — all on $33/hour. Costco CFO says ‘many thousands’ of hourly workers are in the same position.”~Parade
What Every Worker Can Take From Tony Barzar’s Story:
Barzar’s financial path provides a foundation that extends beyond Costco. Start contributing to a retirement account as soon as possible, even if it’s a modest sum. Choose employers that match 401(k) contributions and provide comprehensive healthcare. Compounding only works over lengthy periods of time, so stay consistent. Also, don’t underestimate the financial devastation that a single severe health event without adequate insurance may cause.
Barzar’s wife’s three brain surgeries could have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket. That they did not is as much a part of his net worth story as the million dollars in his retirement account. The median pay for retail sales clerks in the US sits at $16.30 an hour. Tony Barzar earns double that and has for years. The gap between where he started and where he ended up is not proof that any retail job can make you a millionaire. It is proof that the right retail job, at the right company, held for the right amount of time, with consistent financial discipline, absolutely can.
“A Costco cashier who earns $32.90 an hour has more than $1 million saved for retirement. Tony Barzar, 62, bought a home with a pool in 2009 and has taken two European vacations. Costco’s CFO says many thousands of its hourly workers are in the same position.”~Wall Street Journal
