In 1986, He Started Collecting Shopping Carts For $5.85 An Hour. Nearly 40 Years Later, He’s Still Working As A Cashier, And His 401(k) Has Grown To Over $1 Million. The Story Of Tony Barzar Has Important Lessons For Every Investor
A Costco cashier who started collecting shopping carts for less than $6 an hour built a retirement account most financial advisors would envy, and his path reveals something surprising about where long-term wealth actually comes from.
In 1986, a man in Tucson, Arizona, left a grocery store job paying about $3 an hour to gather shopping carts in a warehouse parking lot for $5.85 an hour. Nearly four decades later, Tony Barzar is 60 and still works the same floor as a cashier, earning $32.90 an hour. His retirement account holds more than $1 million.
He worked at Price Club, which merged with Costco (NASDAQ:COST | COST Price Prediction) in 1993. The seven-figure balance is approximate, drawn from Wall Street Journal reporting.
From Carts to Checkout, by Choice
His path ran from carts to stocking shelves, unloading trucks, greeting customers and finally checkout, where he earned about $10 an hour in the 1990s. He has turned down a supervisor role. According to the Journal’s reporting, he said this is “my calling”, right where he is. He said he could retire, but asked what he would do, adding that Costco has been “good to me.” He returned on a part-time basis earlier this year.
Decades of Paychecks Built the Balance
After the merger, he began putting a small part of each paycheck into an account administered by T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ:TROW). The balance reflects regular contributions and decades of compounding.
What Costco Shares Can and Can’t Explain
Stock performance offers one possible explanation for a long-time employee’s wealth. The reporting doesn’t say whether his plan holds any Costco shares. As of 9:32 AM ET on October 9, 2026, the stock traded at $946.54, moving -0.15% on the session.
- 12 months: 4.07% (S&P 500: 15.36%)
- Year to date: 10.25% (S&P 500: 13.87%)
- 5 years: 120.97% (S&P 500: 77.34%)
- 10 years: 644.96% (S&P 500: 259.23%)
Over 12 months, shares rose modestly. Long-run figures are strong, and a balance like his builds steadily over decades of ordinary years.
A Pay System Designed to Keep People
Costco’s top hourly wage is $32.90, up from $31.90. Longer-tenured workers get larger annual bonuses and extra paid vacation after 30 years. First-year turnover is about 7%.
Chief financial officer Gary Millerchip told the Journal that many thousands of Costco’s U.S. hourly workers have more than $1 million in retirement accounts, making Barzar’s story evidence of a system.
His family health plan carried co-pays of $15 for primary care and $25 for specialists. It covered his wife’s three brain operations after a stage 3 cancer diagnosis while he took paid leave, so medical costs didn’t eat away his savings.
Lessons Hiding in a Cashier’s 401(k)
Starting early gave compounding maximum time. Contributing through every market kept the process steady and automatic.
The employer matters. Pay, benefits, and 30-year tenure vary widely across jobs. Next, watch Costco’s upcoming earnings report and any wage updates.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
AJ spent 10 years writing about financial markets at The Motley Fool. His coverage centers on technology stocks and the broader macroeconomic trends, from interest rates to geopolitics, that shape where markets are headed next. AJ is drawn to the stories where big-picture economics and individual companies collide.
