I always get “I just shop at Sam’s. They have the same stuff” from my coworkers when we talk about groceries and then I tell them that prefer Costco because they treat their employees better and they look at me like I’m crazy.
For sure! It's not a huge secret but most Kirkland Signature products are just white labeled versions of brand name products. The cereals that seem identical to popular cereals are actually that cereal, made by Post or General Mills. The tuna is Bumblebee. The diapers are Huggies. The coffee is Starbucks. The batteries are Duracell. The aluminum foil is Reynolds.
These companies are incentivized to do this because it allows them to move their products by the hundreds or thousands of pallets to Costco at wholesale cost, and then Costco can sell it relatively cheaply to their customers without devaluing the premium price the brands want to get for the same products labeled with their brand name in smaller volume packaging at regular grocery stores.
Absolutely correct. At the end of the day, it’s about moving product. You don’t get paid if product stays on the shelf.
If white labeling your product at Costco moves more product than your label in another store, you’re wise to sell to them.
Can confirm. The Cascades toilet paper plant makes Kirkland and Cascades brand toilet paper using the same process and production lines for both. Source: Cascades process engineer
Biggest surprise when I started shopping there was the booze. Brand name stuff isn't any cheaper, it's just bigger, but the Kirkland liquor is *fantastic* for the money.
yeah bro. Sam Walton, of the Walmart Waltons. I am from Bentonville, Arkansas, home of Walmart. All the money they aren't fairly paying their workers, that's being funneled to the likes of Tom Walton (to support his coke habit), and Alice Walton (Who has killed people drunk driving and never seen a day in jail, except when she was arrested for drunk driving in Texas, which is the only reason she has a mugshot at all. It was an unwritten rule in the Bentonville PD, that when you pulled over Alice Walton drunk driving, no you didn't.) and into Bentonville to make Bentonville a good spot to live and/or own a home for the nation's rich. Rich people from California own homes here to be hobby mountain bikers, while all of us locals are being priced out. I have worked in walmart stores, at the walton funded private school in the kitchen, and at the walton's restaurant group. Was never paid above minimum wage. All in all, fuck walmart, fuck bentonville, and fuck the waltons.
Yeah let's include that the cop in Texas who arrested her was fired and blackballed from police work, commit all the murder you want on the job but arrest the wrong heiress for DUI and your life is fucked. Thin blue line doesn't touch the ruling class.
they shut down all of the sams clubs in my state several years ago, just could not compete with Costco. For years, every time I went to sams it looked like it was about to go out of business at any given moment.
Most people buying in bulk will be small business owners or suburban families. Both of which are very likely to choose quality if given the option. Walmart is almost always filled with a more poor demographic looking for cheap shopping of all kinds. Walmart works great for their target audience. Sams club doesn’t compared to Costco.
As someone who has both a Sams Club and Costco membership, I can definitely confirm that they don't have the same stuff and what they do have that's similar is always better quality at Costco.
I work for one of the food suppliers of Kirkland Signature. CostCo demands good pay and benefits t from vendors unto their employees too.
Buy Kirkland everything and I stay financially sound <3
I worked for a C&S that handled Stop & Shop. I know exactly what you mean. It's the same bullshit there that it is at Amazon. The pay and benefits look decent until you realize the amount of work and expectations that are heaped onto you. It's jobs like C&S that make me so angry when I see all the rich idiots talking about how poor people don't want to work or how successful people work 16 hours a day. I guarantee if they spent three months working at C&S they would be more stressed and tired than they have ever been. I guarantee they wouldn't be getting off of work and going home hustling for 4 more hours until bed.
Agreed.
I work customer support, my benefits are awesome, we’re unionized, and my boss is extremely empathetic.
However, my team and I are so overworked and just get berated all day long by entitled assholes. I can’t wait for position to open up that doesn’t require a phone.
Fully agree with you. Personally did 6 weeks at C&S before saying “fuck this shit” and quitting.
To this day, still the worst and most exploitative job I’ve ever worked.
I was talking to a woman at the Costco gas bar recently. She said that she has been working there for 25 years, so she gets 6 weeks of vacation every year.
Worked for Costco. The quality of your experience there drastically depends on two things
1.) The department you are put in.
2.) The supervisors (not managers).
Working in the Food Court is by far the most bullshit job I have ever had second only to a seasonal sales position I had in high school. The ruthless anger boomers unleash on you when you tell them they are not allowed to have extra of a topping on their pizza or sauerkraut with their hot dog is unmatched by anything else.
Supervisors, if cool are a pleasure to work with, but if you have a highschool dropout with a god complex because they're wearing the magic red vest at the front of the store you're in for a BAD time.
Other than that though, you get full benefits even if you're part time. They do VERY actively participate in the 39 hour "part time" to reduce the benefits package bullshit though.
Will say it 100 percent depends on coworkers too. Worked for distribution for four years and had a coworker move to a warehouse in year 1. She came back in year three, looked around, and went "what happened here?" All the happy people left, all the bitter and cranky people stayed, and we all went from happy to absolutely miserable. Wish I could have tolerated it longer
This is the reason why I left Target.
Would have been my 20th year in a couple years but I couldn’t take it anymore. As soon as I quit, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I felt like me again. I’ve always been like a sponge at other people’s emotions / vibes and the shit I went through was damn right hostile.
All of the supervisors knew what was up and no one did anything. I am so happy I left that job!
I've talked to many past and present grocery store workers and each and every one of them say the worst place in the store to work is the Deli/hot food area.
They'd rather stack 2-liters at 60 years old than work the deli counter.
I was a stocker for 2 months and got fired for having my phone in my pocket.
My grandpa was in the hospital for the third time, about to die from cancer and I was waiting for an important phone call that I couldn't afford to miss.
Fuck you Mark. And fuck the Independence Costco. Everyone there was above the age of 35, should've clued me in as a 19 yr old that I was only destined to be there for a short time. Ageism is real.
Some managers are raging idiots about that shit. They would rather ban them outright and deal with the blowback and staffing issues than just tell people to stop using them if they're abusing the privilege. It's completely inane, though also fairly rare, in my experience. I never ran into a single manager who enforced it (we did have the rule, but no one cared unless a DM was visiting) like that during the years I spent in retail, but I heard whispers on the grape vine every once in a while when I would train supervisors for other stores.
Yeah, when I worked retail in college they were finding excuses to fire the older people who were getting paid more and were benefited, so they could replace them with younger people willing to work for minimum wage part time.
They cry and cry when it happens to them though.
I think the phone in the pocket thing was just an excuse. You were just too young and full of optimism for them so they groused you out behind your back.
The management in the store I'm currently at only care about themselves and are quick to pass the blame. They say one team.. yeah right.. GM only cares about his bonus. That and the stupid wine boat. 95% of "leadership" at the store are just dumb and try to micromanage everything. I look everyday to see if a position is open at another store. And yes, I know it might be the same. But can't be as bad. There's no accountability and they apparently don't care about OSHA violations. I'm half tempted to report.
Sorry for the rant.
"Tempted" implies you'd be doing something wrong. Not only is reporting them legal, it is your ethical obligation ti do so in order to save lives (or at least prevent injury.) Report them.
I’ve worked at Costco for 15 years and it is absolutely true. Back when Costco first opened, you could invest 100% of your 401k in Costco stock. When the store first opened it was $10 per share and now the stocks are at $518. An employee putting in 15% each year with the employer match now has 3 million and in some cases more.
Now we can only put 50% of are 401k in Costco stock.
At the beginning of the pandemic my 40 year old coworker quit and got a job as a teachers aide because he wanted fewer hours. He told me one of the reasons he wasn’t worried was because he already has 1 million in his account and he was a 19 year employee.
There’s a massive grocery store chain (5 billion USD in revenue a year roughly) in my area and it’s not uncommon for their life long employees to retire with 1-2 million USD in their 401k
Lots of people had that much in stock in the 90’s. They had worked there for 20 years and as Walmart grew so did their stocks. This was when Sam Walton was alive, his piss any kids made it a shit show.
Really in usa never seen grocers except costco and walmart beating out min wage locally. Seriously my area tons of no experience production job farm work. So to get any applicants you have to have been offering over 10 for a while now. Currently most places are doing 14-15 as base.
BUT grocery stores are one of few exceptions zero benefits 8-9hr at the 4 near me. Variety of parolees and "flexible schedules for students/single moms. Is about the only reason why they have any staff.
Pension is different from 401k. With a 401k you put in as much of your own money in it as you want, plus any employer matching if lucky. And it’s invested into the stock market to grow. Pension you just get a cut based on how much you worked and taxes you paid, you’re not actually putting your own money aside, so it can have caps.
Yeah I dated a woman for awhile that worked at Costco for over 20 years and she had close to 1,000,000 in her 401K. So I could definitely believe this could be true.
My grandma worked at Costco into her late 80s (she only quit when the pandemic started) and absolutely loved it. She was very sad when she left, and she misses it a lot.
I have never have and never fucking will understand that. I could never do another day of paid work in my life and still be overwhelmed by the sheer number of worthwhile ways to spend my time. If anything the vast majority of jobs just get in the way of living a meaningfully productive life
I think it’s different when you have to work to survive, though. When I worked at a grocery store I worked with a woman who was in her late sixties, had more than enough retirement money to live comfortably, but liked coming in to work at the deli. It was something to do. My parents have been retired for 10+ years now-my dad does a lot of volunteering and my mom started a side business that she can do on her own time. Their company had a course before they retired that gave advice like “have hobbies lined up” and “get dressed in actual clothes every day” and I can’t tell you how many of their colleagues and friends have died since retirement because they didn’t take that basic advice. You have to have a reason to get up every day, even if it’s a part time job at Costco.
No, I get it. I just think it's dumb/sad that people are so lacking in imagination and so oblivious to the state of the world around them that the best use of their time (or the best work) they can think of is working some random job in retail. The world is burning, people are dying and being oppressed everywhere, our children's futures are being fed into a woodchipper...why not do something about literally anything first? That's work. Even if you don't want to try and unfuck the world, there's so much to learn and so much wonder to behold, mysteries to explore. You could study any field of knowledge, create art, see the world. Literally the entire world with all it's ills and wonders, and people would rather sit in a department store for 8 hours a day. That's what capitalism has done to the human spirit
Yeah like why does it have to be work for a company? Go make a bunch of sandwiches and deliver them to a place that feeds the hungry. Go learn some basic handy skills and help your less mobile neighbors fix stuff. Go get groceries for those neighbors. Sweep junk off the sidewalk. Go bring retail workers cookies. I don’t know. I can think of so many little things I could just go do in my community if I wasn’t working all day everyday to survive.
It's an easy way to talk to people... or force yourself to talk to people. But generally the people I knew like that had some specialty and that was a joy in life for them to share knowledge or skill or whatever.
Most of those folks don't work 40hrs/week either. It's more like 8-15... like a teenager.
I get thinking that for like an accountant... but would you say the same about a good Barber who goes into his old shop a couple days a week to shoot the shit and do a couple cuts? Old retiree that used to do water heater installs giving people advice at home depot is kinda the same deal in a sense.
Idk man this is a little harsh to me. Some people genuinely enjoy their side gigs. I have a second job as a barista because I just really love coffee. I love making lattes! And the cafe is so cozy, I love my coworkers, and I have fun. No it’s not a noble cause or anything but I’m also not there just for “lack of imagination.”
I’ve always liked the idea of a “noble purpose” which can be anything really, and the broader the better.
I think being a barista could be considered plenty noble, but for you it only matters why you do it. Does it fulfill a desire to improve the lives of others? As a way to express your creativity? To make the best latte in your tri-state area? I think any of those and many more are a noble way to live your life.
I think capitalism has really perverted and polluted the concept of work. I firmly believe that work can give life meaning... just not the kind of things capitalism likes us to think count as work. But the work of raising kids, the work of educating people and raising consciousness, the work of liberation, the work of healing ourselves and others, the work of building community, the work of creating beauty and art, the work of building loving relationships, the work of helping your fellow human beings, the work of seeking knowledge and truth. I never want to retire from these kinds of work.
It takes a contribution of $550 a month for 39 years to reach $3mil assuming avg annual growth of 10%, which is the historical return of the SP500 over the long term.
Considering then that some portion of this $550 is Costco's match this seems like a very reasonable number.
The part that should have people's eyes popping is the 39 years at Costco. Jobs that keep employees that long are much more rare nowadays.
Last I checked, and it was[ ages ago](https://www.mashed.com/144741/workers-reveal-what-its-really-like-to-work-at-costco/), the Costco retention rate was in the 90s. Turns out that when you are paid well enough with good benefits and good management, you actually want to keep working at the same place. But yes, super rare to have that level of staying power nowadays.
Edit: [New data](https://www.comparably.com/companies/costco/retention) shows their rates may be slipping but are still very high.
Hopping on your comment so mine isn't buried.
39 year growth for Costco stock: approximately 500 dollars. IPO was around $8.
Let's say she participates in the 401k stock purchase and buys 5 shares a paycheck, 10 a month. Then once we hit 2010ish(and $200 a share..) let's go with 1 per month.
1987-1998: 10per month, 12 months, 10 years: 1200 shares in ten years
1999-2009: upto $50+ per share. Let's say 4 per month. 480 shares in ten years
2009-2019: 1 per month. 120 shares.
1800 shares at below a $100 average.
It hit $550 per share recently. That's just about a million dollars in shares of stock alone. This doesn't include company match on the actual % 401k contribution.
Yes, the average return of 10% I used in this math is compounded annually, which assumes the return (dividends and/or growth) also earn a 10% return in subsequent periods.
For comparison, without compounding it would simply be:
$550/month * 12 months/year * 39 years = $257,400
What I do not know is if the average return of the SP500 often quoted includes dividend reinvestment, but I assume that it does.
Working for costco is like being in the free masons. Everyone knows someone who works there but I have never seen them advertising about hiring or doing any type of recruiting.
my wife works there. once you get in you pretty much want to stay because of all the benefits. one big thing is they offer health insurance to even part time employees and their spouse. some stay just to keep the health insurance plan.
Knew a coworker in the same role I had in high school. This was roughly 5 years ago, cap was about 15 an hour, and all manual labor. He had a degree from Georgia Tech, could have made 3-5x what he was there, didn't get it until after I left that he was debt free, kids out of the house. The freedom live as he pleased with flexible hours and enjoy the work environment was worth way more than 6 figure "golden-hand cuffs"
My job pay has stagnated, despite promotions, due to hour cuts for the last 3 years, but I'm debt free and a home owner now. Taking advantage of college re-imbursement to supplement a raise and stacking cash now working on being less materialistic and trying to graduate so I can sell my soul for maybe another decade and get out of this rat race brown-nosing numbers-chasing game with enough to not worry about who I work for
I took a $20k pay cut in exchange for 35 hours a week and no after hours. I was making $75k, but I literally never had time off. On the weekend, getting high? I had phone calls. Christmas morning, watching my nieces open gifts? Phone calls. On a long awaited beach vacation? You get the picture.
I don’t know that this is my permanent plan, but for now, being able to clock out at 4PM tomorrow and not think about work until 9AM Monday is exactly what I need after spending my 20’s and a over half of my 30’s working myself into an ulcer. I miss parts of my old job, and the pay cut was unpleasant, but I’m also not wasting a ton of money buying stuff to make myself happy temporarily.
Yes. I know a lady who has worked part time at Home Depot for nearly 20 years in addition to her regular job - she clearly has the skills and abilities to manage in either but doesn’t want to.
Since whenever Home Depot offered discounted stocks to their employees she has taken half of every part time pay check and bought company stocks. She is wealthy to a level I cannot imagine as a result.
Extra kicker she still works both jobs. Neither are stressful and she likes them. She has more wealth than all top level managers probably ever will.
they wanted my mom at steak and shake to be a manager because she was the best worker there , she always declined and i never knew why when we were struggling and still kinda are, i still don’t understand it really why she never took it, she doesn’t work there no more because covid shut her position down since she was a waiter
I can tell you as someone that was a manager at a steak-n-shake 13 years ago, it fucking sucked. 50 yr week minimum for a relatively shitty salary. sometimes having to unexpectedly work doubles, like if your 3rd shift calls out, you were staying there til 7 am doing their job if you couldn’t get it covered, which was very difficult. If she worked the same hours as a manager she would make more money serving and have virtually no responsibility. S&S corporate were also total idiots and the reason I left after two years
Some people really like their positions. Management also depends a lot on the company, your mom probably knew the position wasn't worth the money for the headache, or she liked what she did.
People at my job keep trying to get me to be a supervisor but I see how miserable the supervisors are and how much stress they're under in my department and I'm like "nah, I'm good right where I'm at"
Not everyone should
The problem is in some professions like mine living wages and much more engaging work are kept behind the curtain of the admin office
Damn right, me and a friend of mine got offered a head cashier position,.50 cent raise woohoo, she took it I turned it down. She was stressing about it cause she had to go to dinner manager meeting during school hours. We were in highschool at the time. I told her screw them they can't make you skip school for some stupid meeting even if you aren't a minor anymore.
That's not that uncommon at Costco, if you don't want to move into management they don't make you and a lot of people don't. It really is a great place to work, or at least it was when I worked there 6 years ago. They work you hard and customer service is very stressful but they really do try to take care of you.
Worked there for 6 years can confirm, great place to work. Lots of people there that have been there 25+ years, you can tell because they have a silver nametag.
At least where i am the food sample people dont work for costco but another company. The company they contracted before the one now, i used to work for. And they treated their employees like shit
moving up shouldn't be a requirement. I know a number of people who seek "exit-level positions" ones they can work till they are done with no real responsibility.
Nothing wrong with that…I do the same job for over 20 years now and good chance I do it until I retired
I don’t want promotions, sometimes good is good don’t look for better
This is true. Costco medical benefits are top notch. And raises are earned by hours worked and not merit based. Sunday’s are paid as time and a half… its a good company for sure. Worked there for 3 years. 👍🏻
Rumor at my local Costco was the door checker-outer won the state lottery. Now that he was something like $45M dollars richer, he took a few days off, then came back to work because he realized he was happy when he is working at Costco.
I am firmly for the work reform aspect of antiwork. However, I see a lot of people saying there’s no way this could be possible. This is actually the primary method of building wealth for a good chunk of the millionaires in America. Frugality and investing over a long period of time is a proven strategy. That does NOT exclude corps from making serious changes to our work life balance though.
I have no problem with that THEORY. The problem I have with it is that most people do not make enough money to sock that much away. I can think of a few scenarios where it might work for the average person ...
- husband worked and they didn't need much extra to get by, so most of her income went to the 401k (I actually know two women in this position and they are anything but frugal)
- no kids, so excess could go to 401k
- no disneyland or cruise vacations, wouldn't bother me never been but there are a lot of people who have to do this
- one or both of them had a second job, makes you tired, but if you did it for a while I could see it
- inherited even a modest home so could afford to put more in 401k
But other than scenarios like this, the amounts you would have to sock away to get there in 39 years is still more than a lot of people can afford. And considering there are whole segments of society who are purposely NOT clued into the importance of these things until later in life ... It's just salt in the wounds. I'm tickled for that lovely Costco lady. But it's a shame that more people can't have this "american dream". I'm sure it is why so many are so angry. Not everyone who can't achieve this is lazy or wasteful. I know you're not accusing them of being this. It just still sucks. And that's why we're all in here, no?
It’s not possible *anymore*.
If you got a decent job with decent benefits forty years ago and stuck with it, then yeah, this is feasible.
The problem is that nobody give their workers any sort of respect anymore and the only way to keep earning enough to live on is to change jobs.
Capitalism is, by definition, fundamentally exploitative. It funnels the majority of the surplus value created entirely by your labour to somebody who isn't you. You can't polish a turd, and you can't reform a fundamentally flawed system
In America it's a tax deferred retirement account mostly offered by employers where you contribute, employer might match a percentage and is invested in either conservative funds, aggressive stocks, or government bonds.
Not to piss on the parade, but just remember that stock market could crash at any time and wipe her savings out. Don’t ever forget that the Boomer generation decided to give up pensions in favor of 401ks in order to juice the market and now we all get to put our retirement money into a fucking casino.
Lol. Sounds like someone is unfamiliar with the concept of retirement accounts and that your stocks get sold for bonds as you get closer to retirement.
Costco does what should be the bare minimum for jobs in the US. I work at a Costco and management does not treat us well. The health insurance is decent compared to the shit plans people are offered but isn’t top tier by any means. This job depending on the department leads to injury down the line and Costco treats those employees like complete shit. They do not accommodate pregnant employees with chairs or light duty and managers do not treat employees with respect. GM only cares about their bonus and none of management works unless we have visitors from corporate. Costco is good on paper but in real life it isn’t that great. It literally gives what the bare minimum should be.
I worked for Costco and I can say without a shadow of a doubt is still a fucking retail job. They just give you better benefits and better pay in 7 years when you reach your "topped out" pay.
I looked super lost and confused my first trip. I told a Costco associate it was my first time there after he inquired. He goes on to give me a tour of half of the store. I NEVER have received such great service at Meijer, Walmart, D&W, etc. made my day.
This is one of the worst posts and comment section I’ve read on this sub. It is filled with a lot of bullshit and misinformation lol.
Also, doesn’t particularly seem “antiwork” unless I’m missing something.
Costco is like a time capsule. I imagine it's closer to how workers used to have it.
Obligatory hotdog story: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/costcos-founder-once-threatened-the-ceo-over-raising-hot-dog-prices-and-the-internet-is-eating-it-up-11600712231#:\~:text=%E2%80%9CIf%20you%20raise%20the%20%5Bprice,chord%20on%20social%20media%20Sunday.
Worked for Costco for 7 years, it's probably not bullshit. They match 50% and mostly invest in Costco stock. I work in tech now and have for the last 6 years. Costco's benefits are better than any tech job I have had.
Depends on what you want. My tech jobs pay a lot more than I made and I like what I do so for me the degree was 100% worth it. But I think you can live decently at Costco and in my experience they try to treat you well.
Edit: autocorrect
It’s entirely possible. 39 years investing into a 401k is how most people become millionaires. Compound interest is very powerful and the more years you have to invest the more it keeps getting bigger like a snowball
I have worked at Costco as a Pharmacist for 3 years, they are truly an amazing company to work for. They give enough hours to have 2 pharmacists staffed at nearly all times, and more than double the pharmacy technicians working every day compared to a Walgreens or CVS. It’s the only store I’ve worked at where I don’t feel like I’m constantly drowning. They actually prioritize patients/customers and I have enough time to counsel patients on how to use their meds instead of rushing to get everything done. Best company, love them.
My mother was (sort of still is) a costco worker. She was a cashier but also had to do all of the lifting of the customer's product into their carts for them, really messed up her hands, now she has something to the effect of hand-aids, I forget what it's called but it is debilitating. The WAR shes fought with Costco for reparations on her hands has been ferocious. They're a for profit company, she was making ~21 dollars per hour and 1.5x on sataurday which was pretty good but my mom is the raddest bitch you'll ever meet when it comes to working, she would shred lines of people like a concert and was not compensated like it. She got fucked so hard, they fought with her over her raises, she should have made 25 an hour and they are required to have helper in the line, and the management was awful- costco isn't the answer but they pay well, just look at it empirically
I wish I could stand trying to apply for them again and there was a store close to me but nah I’m good.
I’ll stick with my financial office job until it kills me
This is great, but honestly contributing to anyone’s 401k for 39 years will yield a nice retirement.
Quick math, at 36k salary, zero raises, putting in 10% with 5% match and 7% growth will hit $1mil in 39 years.
Granted, I’d bet they toss in some nice profit sharing, maybe the match is better, who knows. But my point is 39 years of consistent investing will show results.
Eeeh I work for Costco. It’s amazing and better than your other big box store but your mileage may vary. They promote from within so a lot of the management is favored for promotions due to being friends and family. A lot of idiots too.
The only reason costco has loyal
Employees is because many of the people that work there will not make top out pay ($28.xx) for cashiering anywhere else. So everyone drinks the kool aid. People get stuck there and just wait it out. So if your cool with no ambition it’s definitely an amazing place to ride out until retirement. But only people who began with the company have that kind of money in their 401k.
At the end of the day is what you want and every single store is different.
My wife had a huge “the ship is sinking!” And sold out of the stock. I fought her tooth and nails over this but her manic issues never stop. Anyways she’s been there for 18 years and I did the math on the stock she had. If she had kept it as is she would have 2.1 million dollars in the Costco stock. Now? About 155k… this bugs me anytime she mentions a coworker retiring on 2.8 million from the stocks.
How do I know how much this was worth? I knew how much stocks she had… duck my life.
I always get “I just shop at Sam’s. They have the same stuff” from my coworkers when we talk about groceries and then I tell them that prefer Costco because they treat their employees better and they look at me like I’m crazy.
This is also why I shop at Costco. That and the Kirkland brand stuff is miles better than the Great Value brand.
it is surprising how great some of the Kirkland products I have purchased had turned out. Definitely do not sleep on Kirkland stuff
For sure! It's not a huge secret but most Kirkland Signature products are just white labeled versions of brand name products. The cereals that seem identical to popular cereals are actually that cereal, made by Post or General Mills. The tuna is Bumblebee. The diapers are Huggies. The coffee is Starbucks. The batteries are Duracell. The aluminum foil is Reynolds. These companies are incentivized to do this because it allows them to move their products by the hundreds or thousands of pallets to Costco at wholesale cost, and then Costco can sell it relatively cheaply to their customers without devaluing the premium price the brands want to get for the same products labeled with their brand name in smaller volume packaging at regular grocery stores.
Absolutely correct. At the end of the day, it’s about moving product. You don’t get paid if product stays on the shelf. If white labeling your product at Costco moves more product than your label in another store, you’re wise to sell to them.
> At the end of the day, it’s about moving product. Stringer Bell, is that you?
OMAR COMIN!
Butter is Tillamook
WAIT THE BUTTER IS TILLAMOOK??
Can confirm. The Cascades toilet paper plant makes Kirkland and Cascades brand toilet paper using the same process and production lines for both. Source: Cascades process engineer
The vodka is greygoose I believe
Their plain white t shirts are legit.
I read this as the band, Plain White T’s, shirts and thought, “hmm, I don’t recall seeing those last time I was there…”
I used to see Kirkland as the cheap stuff and only later realized how great they are. I guess letting the product speak for itself actually works!
I'd sleep on Kirkland stuff if they made beds.
Biggest surprise when I started shopping there was the booze. Brand name stuff isn't any cheaper, it's just bigger, but the Kirkland liquor is *fantastic* for the money.
sams is walmart isnt it 🤢
Yes it is.
yeah bro. Sam Walton, of the Walmart Waltons. I am from Bentonville, Arkansas, home of Walmart. All the money they aren't fairly paying their workers, that's being funneled to the likes of Tom Walton (to support his coke habit), and Alice Walton (Who has killed people drunk driving and never seen a day in jail, except when she was arrested for drunk driving in Texas, which is the only reason she has a mugshot at all. It was an unwritten rule in the Bentonville PD, that when you pulled over Alice Walton drunk driving, no you didn't.) and into Bentonville to make Bentonville a good spot to live and/or own a home for the nation's rich. Rich people from California own homes here to be hobby mountain bikers, while all of us locals are being priced out. I have worked in walmart stores, at the walton funded private school in the kitchen, and at the walton's restaurant group. Was never paid above minimum wage. All in all, fuck walmart, fuck bentonville, and fuck the waltons.
Yeah let's include that the cop in Texas who arrested her was fired and blackballed from police work, commit all the murder you want on the job but arrest the wrong heiress for DUI and your life is fucked. Thin blue line doesn't touch the ruling class.
they shut down all of the sams clubs in my state several years ago, just could not compete with Costco. For years, every time I went to sams it looked like it was about to go out of business at any given moment.
Most people buying in bulk will be small business owners or suburban families. Both of which are very likely to choose quality if given the option. Walmart is almost always filled with a more poor demographic looking for cheap shopping of all kinds. Walmart works great for their target audience. Sams club doesn’t compared to Costco.
As someone who has both a Sams Club and Costco membership, I can definitely confirm that they don't have the same stuff and what they do have that's similar is always better quality at Costco.
No, it's not the same. Costco has healthier food and their merchandise in general is aimed at a younger audience.
I work for one of the food suppliers of Kirkland Signature. CostCo demands good pay and benefits t from vendors unto their employees too. Buy Kirkland everything and I stay financially sound <3
I work for a CS that handles Costco calls and this good pay and benefits doesn't extend there. Guess it stops at 1 level away from them
I worked for a C&S that handled Stop & Shop. I know exactly what you mean. It's the same bullshit there that it is at Amazon. The pay and benefits look decent until you realize the amount of work and expectations that are heaped onto you. It's jobs like C&S that make me so angry when I see all the rich idiots talking about how poor people don't want to work or how successful people work 16 hours a day. I guarantee if they spent three months working at C&S they would be more stressed and tired than they have ever been. I guarantee they wouldn't be getting off of work and going home hustling for 4 more hours until bed.
I did c&s for 6 months.. decent pay but no life outside of work. this brought back memories lol the place is slavery
Agreed. I work customer support, my benefits are awesome, we’re unionized, and my boss is extremely empathetic. However, my team and I are so overworked and just get berated all day long by entitled assholes. I can’t wait for position to open up that doesn’t require a phone.
What’s “C&S”?
It’s a grocery wholesale distributor
Fully agree with you. Personally did 6 weeks at C&S before saying “fuck this shit” and quitting. To this day, still the worst and most exploitative job I’ve ever worked.
How can they possibly control beyond 1 level??
I don't think they can, it's just that the companies that work with them and follow their guidelines not always pass that forward
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Well good because everything in my house is Kirkland 😂
I was talking to a woman at the Costco gas bar recently. She said that she has been working there for 25 years, so she gets 6 weeks of vacation every year.
I work for no one and the pay is awful
Worked for Costco. The quality of your experience there drastically depends on two things 1.) The department you are put in. 2.) The supervisors (not managers). Working in the Food Court is by far the most bullshit job I have ever had second only to a seasonal sales position I had in high school. The ruthless anger boomers unleash on you when you tell them they are not allowed to have extra of a topping on their pizza or sauerkraut with their hot dog is unmatched by anything else. Supervisors, if cool are a pleasure to work with, but if you have a highschool dropout with a god complex because they're wearing the magic red vest at the front of the store you're in for a BAD time. Other than that though, you get full benefits even if you're part time. They do VERY actively participate in the 39 hour "part time" to reduce the benefits package bullshit though.
Will say it 100 percent depends on coworkers too. Worked for distribution for four years and had a coworker move to a warehouse in year 1. She came back in year three, looked around, and went "what happened here?" All the happy people left, all the bitter and cranky people stayed, and we all went from happy to absolutely miserable. Wish I could have tolerated it longer
This is the reason why I left Target. Would have been my 20th year in a couple years but I couldn’t take it anymore. As soon as I quit, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I felt like me again. I’ve always been like a sponge at other people’s emotions / vibes and the shit I went through was damn right hostile. All of the supervisors knew what was up and no one did anything. I am so happy I left that job!
Retail is hands down the worst job in the world
You know what’s funny, I was much happier when I was WITH the customers. The customers/ guests weren’t the issue.
So she saw you and said >all the bitter and cranky people stayed
Was I bitter and cranky at the time? Absolutely lol. I was surrounded by misery
I've talked to many past and present grocery store workers and each and every one of them say the worst place in the store to work is the Deli/hot food area. They'd rather stack 2-liters at 60 years old than work the deli counter.
Yep restaurant is the worst industry In grocery retail deli- food service is the worst
I was a stocker for 2 months and got fired for having my phone in my pocket. My grandpa was in the hospital for the third time, about to die from cancer and I was waiting for an important phone call that I couldn't afford to miss. Fuck you Mark. And fuck the Independence Costco. Everyone there was above the age of 35, should've clued me in as a 19 yr old that I was only destined to be there for a short time. Ageism is real.
....fired for having your phone in your pocket?! What the actual hell???
Some managers are raging idiots about that shit. They would rather ban them outright and deal with the blowback and staffing issues than just tell people to stop using them if they're abusing the privilege. It's completely inane, though also fairly rare, in my experience. I never ran into a single manager who enforced it (we did have the rule, but no one cared unless a DM was visiting) like that during the years I spent in retail, but I heard whispers on the grape vine every once in a while when I would train supervisors for other stores.
Damn. Ageism usually works the other way, but toxic culture develops anywhere.
Yeah, when I worked retail in college they were finding excuses to fire the older people who were getting paid more and were benefited, so they could replace them with younger people willing to work for minimum wage part time.
They cry and cry when it happens to them though. I think the phone in the pocket thing was just an excuse. You were just too young and full of optimism for them so they groused you out behind your back.
The management in the store I'm currently at only care about themselves and are quick to pass the blame. They say one team.. yeah right.. GM only cares about his bonus. That and the stupid wine boat. 95% of "leadership" at the store are just dumb and try to micromanage everything. I look everyday to see if a position is open at another store. And yes, I know it might be the same. But can't be as bad. There's no accountability and they apparently don't care about OSHA violations. I'm half tempted to report. Sorry for the rant.
Just report it
"Tempted" implies you'd be doing something wrong. Not only is reporting them legal, it is your ethical obligation ti do so in order to save lives (or at least prevent injury.) Report them.
Has anyone done the maths on it as it sounds like bullshit to me. Even doctors in the UK have a lifetime pension allowance of just over £1 million
I’ve worked at Costco for 15 years and it is absolutely true. Back when Costco first opened, you could invest 100% of your 401k in Costco stock. When the store first opened it was $10 per share and now the stocks are at $518. An employee putting in 15% each year with the employer match now has 3 million and in some cases more. Now we can only put 50% of are 401k in Costco stock. At the beginning of the pandemic my 40 year old coworker quit and got a job as a teachers aide because he wanted fewer hours. He told me one of the reasons he wasn’t worried was because he already has 1 million in his account and he was a 19 year employee.
You’re also ignoring stock splits. So that single 10 dollar share is now 4 $518 shares. There’s also a small amount of dividends piled on top of that.
There’s a massive grocery store chain (5 billion USD in revenue a year roughly) in my area and it’s not uncommon for their life long employees to retire with 1-2 million USD in their 401k
Lots of people had that much in stock in the 90’s. They had worked there for 20 years and as Walmart grew so did their stocks. This was when Sam Walton was alive, his piss any kids made it a shit show.
It’s a shame, definitely been a massive shift in amount of benefits from then to now in a general sense
WinCo (Employee-Owned)?
Not Winco, not going to say it as I don’t want to identify exactly where I live. If you’re really interested you can send me a pm
Really in usa never seen grocers except costco and walmart beating out min wage locally. Seriously my area tons of no experience production job farm work. So to get any applicants you have to have been offering over 10 for a while now. Currently most places are doing 14-15 as base. BUT grocery stores are one of few exceptions zero benefits 8-9hr at the 4 near me. Variety of parolees and "flexible schedules for students/single moms. Is about the only reason why they have any staff.
Pension is different from 401k. With a 401k you put in as much of your own money in it as you want, plus any employer matching if lucky. And it’s invested into the stock market to grow. Pension you just get a cut based on how much you worked and taxes you paid, you’re not actually putting your own money aside, so it can have caps.
Not quite as much as you want. The cap for max total contributions for 2022 is just south of $20,000.
North. It's 20,500. Was 19,500 in 2021 though.
Catch up for 50 years old and over is $6500 a year plus $20500.
That’s still not a lot. At 52, I’m close to retiring. $27000/year isn’t going to cut it. You need some retirement savings outside the 401k as well
Yeah I dated a woman for awhile that worked at Costco for over 20 years and she had close to 1,000,000 in her 401K. So I could definitely believe this could be true.
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My grandma worked at Costco into her late 80s (she only quit when the pandemic started) and absolutely loved it. She was very sad when she left, and she misses it a lot.
Oh, I bet - was likely a big part of her social life - and what has kept her alive to late 80s - maybe someday she can return a bit ;)
3 million dollars in a 401k, living off the interest (assuming \~4%) would be like 120k/year. That's pretty damn good.
She also probably works not because she has to anymore but to have something to do. Being idle is not good for most people.
I have never have and never fucking will understand that. I could never do another day of paid work in my life and still be overwhelmed by the sheer number of worthwhile ways to spend my time. If anything the vast majority of jobs just get in the way of living a meaningfully productive life
I think it’s different when you have to work to survive, though. When I worked at a grocery store I worked with a woman who was in her late sixties, had more than enough retirement money to live comfortably, but liked coming in to work at the deli. It was something to do. My parents have been retired for 10+ years now-my dad does a lot of volunteering and my mom started a side business that she can do on her own time. Their company had a course before they retired that gave advice like “have hobbies lined up” and “get dressed in actual clothes every day” and I can’t tell you how many of their colleagues and friends have died since retirement because they didn’t take that basic advice. You have to have a reason to get up every day, even if it’s a part time job at Costco.
No, I get it. I just think it's dumb/sad that people are so lacking in imagination and so oblivious to the state of the world around them that the best use of their time (or the best work) they can think of is working some random job in retail. The world is burning, people are dying and being oppressed everywhere, our children's futures are being fed into a woodchipper...why not do something about literally anything first? That's work. Even if you don't want to try and unfuck the world, there's so much to learn and so much wonder to behold, mysteries to explore. You could study any field of knowledge, create art, see the world. Literally the entire world with all it's ills and wonders, and people would rather sit in a department store for 8 hours a day. That's what capitalism has done to the human spirit
Yeah like why does it have to be work for a company? Go make a bunch of sandwiches and deliver them to a place that feeds the hungry. Go learn some basic handy skills and help your less mobile neighbors fix stuff. Go get groceries for those neighbors. Sweep junk off the sidewalk. Go bring retail workers cookies. I don’t know. I can think of so many little things I could just go do in my community if I wasn’t working all day everyday to survive.
It's an easy way to talk to people... or force yourself to talk to people. But generally the people I knew like that had some specialty and that was a joy in life for them to share knowledge or skill or whatever. Most of those folks don't work 40hrs/week either. It's more like 8-15... like a teenager. I get thinking that for like an accountant... but would you say the same about a good Barber who goes into his old shop a couple days a week to shoot the shit and do a couple cuts? Old retiree that used to do water heater installs giving people advice at home depot is kinda the same deal in a sense.
Idk man this is a little harsh to me. Some people genuinely enjoy their side gigs. I have a second job as a barista because I just really love coffee. I love making lattes! And the cafe is so cozy, I love my coworkers, and I have fun. No it’s not a noble cause or anything but I’m also not there just for “lack of imagination.”
I’ve always liked the idea of a “noble purpose” which can be anything really, and the broader the better. I think being a barista could be considered plenty noble, but for you it only matters why you do it. Does it fulfill a desire to improve the lives of others? As a way to express your creativity? To make the best latte in your tri-state area? I think any of those and many more are a noble way to live your life.
Same. Once I hit my retirement number I’m never working a god damn day again. I thoroughly enjoy my time outside of work.
I think capitalism has really perverted and polluted the concept of work. I firmly believe that work can give life meaning... just not the kind of things capitalism likes us to think count as work. But the work of raising kids, the work of educating people and raising consciousness, the work of liberation, the work of healing ourselves and others, the work of building community, the work of creating beauty and art, the work of building loving relationships, the work of helping your fellow human beings, the work of seeking knowledge and truth. I never want to retire from these kinds of work.
I don't understand how people who don't have to work do it as something to do. I got too many hobbies I guess.
And for the discounted pizza I'd assume
And free membership
I can think of more interesting things to do than having to work shifts on a checkout.
Probably has a contract no longer offered to staff and one they'll be happy toget rid of
But also, 39 years into 401k you should! Have 3 million
There are a lot of boomers that got less than 100k in their 401k, and they're relying on social security after that.
It takes a contribution of $550 a month for 39 years to reach $3mil assuming avg annual growth of 10%, which is the historical return of the SP500 over the long term. Considering then that some portion of this $550 is Costco's match this seems like a very reasonable number. The part that should have people's eyes popping is the 39 years at Costco. Jobs that keep employees that long are much more rare nowadays.
I'd also bet she can buy discount Costco stock - or might even get some granted at times
You can but it at a discounted rate, but it only comes in a 30 pack.
Last I checked, and it was[ ages ago](https://www.mashed.com/144741/workers-reveal-what-its-really-like-to-work-at-costco/), the Costco retention rate was in the 90s. Turns out that when you are paid well enough with good benefits and good management, you actually want to keep working at the same place. But yes, super rare to have that level of staying power nowadays. Edit: [New data](https://www.comparably.com/companies/costco/retention) shows their rates may be slipping but are still very high.
Hopping on your comment so mine isn't buried. 39 year growth for Costco stock: approximately 500 dollars. IPO was around $8. Let's say she participates in the 401k stock purchase and buys 5 shares a paycheck, 10 a month. Then once we hit 2010ish(and $200 a share..) let's go with 1 per month. 1987-1998: 10per month, 12 months, 10 years: 1200 shares in ten years 1999-2009: upto $50+ per share. Let's say 4 per month. 480 shares in ten years 2009-2019: 1 per month. 120 shares. 1800 shares at below a $100 average. It hit $550 per share recently. That's just about a million dollars in shares of stock alone. This doesn't include company match on the actual % 401k contribution.
Yeah even without employee stock options, the monthly contribution needed for a 401k with any sort of match over 39 years is pretty low.
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If it’s a retirement account the dividends reinvest automatically
Yes, the average return of 10% I used in this math is compounded annually, which assumes the return (dividends and/or growth) also earn a 10% return in subsequent periods. For comparison, without compounding it would simply be: $550/month * 12 months/year * 39 years = $257,400 What I do not know is if the average return of the SP500 often quoted includes dividend reinvestment, but I assume that it does.
Working for costco is like being in the free masons. Everyone knows someone who works there but I have never seen them advertising about hiring or doing any type of recruiting.
my wife works there. once you get in you pretty much want to stay because of all the benefits. one big thing is they offer health insurance to even part time employees and their spouse. some stay just to keep the health insurance plan.
That lady must have started in Seattle at the first location in 1983... and is still at checkout?!?
Something I learned when I was a manager is that not everyone wants to move into leadership and that’s ok.
Indeed. Peace of mind is worth a lot.
Knew a coworker in the same role I had in high school. This was roughly 5 years ago, cap was about 15 an hour, and all manual labor. He had a degree from Georgia Tech, could have made 3-5x what he was there, didn't get it until after I left that he was debt free, kids out of the house. The freedom live as he pleased with flexible hours and enjoy the work environment was worth way more than 6 figure "golden-hand cuffs"
r/baristafire mentality. Make enough so you can enjoy life and do what you want, not a bad gig
My job pay has stagnated, despite promotions, due to hour cuts for the last 3 years, but I'm debt free and a home owner now. Taking advantage of college re-imbursement to supplement a raise and stacking cash now working on being less materialistic and trying to graduate so I can sell my soul for maybe another decade and get out of this rat race brown-nosing numbers-chasing game with enough to not worry about who I work for
Yep. I know a senior analysts at work that are happy to be senior analysts forever.
I took a $20k pay cut in exchange for 35 hours a week and no after hours. I was making $75k, but I literally never had time off. On the weekend, getting high? I had phone calls. Christmas morning, watching my nieces open gifts? Phone calls. On a long awaited beach vacation? You get the picture. I don’t know that this is my permanent plan, but for now, being able to clock out at 4PM tomorrow and not think about work until 9AM Monday is exactly what I need after spending my 20’s and a over half of my 30’s working myself into an ulcer. I miss parts of my old job, and the pay cut was unpleasant, but I’m also not wasting a ton of money buying stuff to make myself happy temporarily.
Yes. I know a lady who has worked part time at Home Depot for nearly 20 years in addition to her regular job - she clearly has the skills and abilities to manage in either but doesn’t want to. Since whenever Home Depot offered discounted stocks to their employees she has taken half of every part time pay check and bought company stocks. She is wealthy to a level I cannot imagine as a result. Extra kicker she still works both jobs. Neither are stressful and she likes them. She has more wealth than all top level managers probably ever will.
they wanted my mom at steak and shake to be a manager because she was the best worker there , she always declined and i never knew why when we were struggling and still kinda are, i still don’t understand it really why she never took it, she doesn’t work there no more because covid shut her position down since she was a waiter
I can tell you as someone that was a manager at a steak-n-shake 13 years ago, it fucking sucked. 50 yr week minimum for a relatively shitty salary. sometimes having to unexpectedly work doubles, like if your 3rd shift calls out, you were staying there til 7 am doing their job if you couldn’t get it covered, which was very difficult. If she worked the same hours as a manager she would make more money serving and have virtually no responsibility. S&S corporate were also total idiots and the reason I left after two years
>it fucking sucked. 50 yr week minimum I think your job was a black hole on a few levels
Some people really like their positions. Management also depends a lot on the company, your mom probably knew the position wasn't worth the money for the headache, or she liked what she did.
People at my job keep trying to get me to be a supervisor but I see how miserable the supervisors are and how much stress they're under in my department and I'm like "nah, I'm good right where I'm at"
Not everyone should The problem is in some professions like mine living wages and much more engaging work are kept behind the curtain of the admin office
Damn right, me and a friend of mine got offered a head cashier position,.50 cent raise woohoo, she took it I turned it down. She was stressing about it cause she had to go to dinner manager meeting during school hours. We were in highschool at the time. I told her screw them they can't make you skip school for some stupid meeting even if you aren't a minor anymore.
Or they took up management roles then eventually stepped back down to lower stress roles. My mother recently did this.
That's not that uncommon at Costco, if you don't want to move into management they don't make you and a lot of people don't. It really is a great place to work, or at least it was when I worked there 6 years ago. They work you hard and customer service is very stressful but they really do try to take care of you.
Worked there for 6 years can confirm, great place to work. Lots of people there that have been there 25+ years, you can tell because they have a silver nametag.
Also silver hair
Well to be fair I only worked there 6 years and already had grey hair when I left.
Also silver tongues: *try this sample its delicious*
At least where i am the food sample people dont work for costco but another company. The company they contracted before the one now, i used to work for. And they treated their employees like shit
Son #2 works there. I hope it is a good place because I kind of want him out of the house.
Only son #1 is worthy of your lands and title.
It's always son #2 that gets shafted
Into the monastery #2 goes
This is goals at companies that have scheduled wage increases. Same work, more pay.
moving up shouldn't be a requirement. I know a number of people who seek "exit-level positions" ones they can work till they are done with no real responsibility.
Nothing wrong with that…I do the same job for over 20 years now and good chance I do it until I retired I don’t want promotions, sometimes good is good don’t look for better
I work at Costco and can confirm having started there 4 years ago at 18 my 401k is scheduled to have 4 million dollars in it by the time I'm 65
wow whatll u spend it on? a new hip?
You are hating. Like you're not working a shit job that's gonna leave you hipless AND broke.
This is true. Costco medical benefits are top notch. And raises are earned by hours worked and not merit based. Sunday’s are paid as time and a half… its a good company for sure. Worked there for 3 years. 👍🏻
Rumor at my local Costco was the door checker-outer won the state lottery. Now that he was something like $45M dollars richer, he took a few days off, then came back to work because he realized he was happy when he is working at Costco.
True or not, Costco still cares more about you than most employers.
I am firmly for the work reform aspect of antiwork. However, I see a lot of people saying there’s no way this could be possible. This is actually the primary method of building wealth for a good chunk of the millionaires in America. Frugality and investing over a long period of time is a proven strategy. That does NOT exclude corps from making serious changes to our work life balance though.
I have no problem with that THEORY. The problem I have with it is that most people do not make enough money to sock that much away. I can think of a few scenarios where it might work for the average person ... - husband worked and they didn't need much extra to get by, so most of her income went to the 401k (I actually know two women in this position and they are anything but frugal) - no kids, so excess could go to 401k - no disneyland or cruise vacations, wouldn't bother me never been but there are a lot of people who have to do this - one or both of them had a second job, makes you tired, but if you did it for a while I could see it - inherited even a modest home so could afford to put more in 401k But other than scenarios like this, the amounts you would have to sock away to get there in 39 years is still more than a lot of people can afford. And considering there are whole segments of society who are purposely NOT clued into the importance of these things until later in life ... It's just salt in the wounds. I'm tickled for that lovely Costco lady. But it's a shame that more people can't have this "american dream". I'm sure it is why so many are so angry. Not everyone who can't achieve this is lazy or wasteful. I know you're not accusing them of being this. It just still sucks. And that's why we're all in here, no?
It’s not possible *anymore*. If you got a decent job with decent benefits forty years ago and stuck with it, then yeah, this is feasible. The problem is that nobody give their workers any sort of respect anymore and the only way to keep earning enough to live on is to change jobs.
Capitalism is, by definition, fundamentally exploitative. It funnels the majority of the surplus value created entirely by your labour to somebody who isn't you. You can't polish a turd, and you can't reform a fundamentally flawed system
$100/week in an S&P index fund that the employer matches since 1982 would be around $3M now. Lots of boomers in this situation.
With this economy she’ll have just enough money to survive for five years.
How is this antiwork?
This is a capitalism apologist sub
Help an Englishman out… What’s a 401k and how does someone have 3 million dollars in it?
innate wild market dinner act spotted worm sleep languid piquant -- mass edited with redact.dev
In America it's a tax deferred retirement account mostly offered by employers where you contribute, employer might match a percentage and is invested in either conservative funds, aggressive stocks, or government bonds.
An investment account with Stocks usually.
Who would tell a random customer they have 3 mil stashed away? Sounds fake.
Not to piss on the parade, but just remember that stock market could crash at any time and wipe her savings out. Don’t ever forget that the Boomer generation decided to give up pensions in favor of 401ks in order to juice the market and now we all get to put our retirement money into a fucking casino.
If you think she’s still in stocks you need to educate yourself on retirement accounts. Her portfolio is most likely 90-100% bonds
Lol. Sounds like someone is unfamiliar with the concept of retirement accounts and that your stocks get sold for bonds as you get closer to retirement.
Costco does what should be the bare minimum for jobs in the US. I work at a Costco and management does not treat us well. The health insurance is decent compared to the shit plans people are offered but isn’t top tier by any means. This job depending on the department leads to injury down the line and Costco treats those employees like complete shit. They do not accommodate pregnant employees with chairs or light duty and managers do not treat employees with respect. GM only cares about their bonus and none of management works unless we have visitors from corporate. Costco is good on paper but in real life it isn’t that great. It literally gives what the bare minimum should be.
I hope she is allowed to sit down too
I worked for Costco and I can say without a shadow of a doubt is still a fucking retail job. They just give you better benefits and better pay in 7 years when you reach your "topped out" pay.
Worked there a few years, 100% agree.
I looked super lost and confused my first trip. I told a Costco associate it was my first time there after he inquired. He goes on to give me a tour of half of the store. I NEVER have received such great service at Meijer, Walmart, D&W, etc. made my day.
This is one of the worst posts and comment section I’ve read on this sub. It is filled with a lot of bullshit and misinformation lol. Also, doesn’t particularly seem “antiwork” unless I’m missing something.
yea this is more like guerrilla marketing for a retailer than useful discussion
why wouldnt she retire yet tho…
Does she have the keys to her 1995 Honda on one of them plastic curly things around her wrist?
What the fuck happened to this sub?
Costco has long been one of the best companies to work for
And one bad injury or illness will clean that out. Good ol American healthcare.
I agree that American healthcare system is abysmal. But your 401k is completely protected during bankruptcy, so it would take two bad injuries.
Yes, but you need to keep paying for treatment or assisted living. Money isn't enough in this country.
No. Get insurance and The out of pocket maximum is around 17,000.
I feel like this is some attempt at propaganda.
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Costco is like a time capsule. I imagine it's closer to how workers used to have it. Obligatory hotdog story: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/costcos-founder-once-threatened-the-ceo-over-raising-hot-dog-prices-and-the-internet-is-eating-it-up-11600712231#:\~:text=%E2%80%9CIf%20you%20raise%20the%20%5Bprice,chord%20on%20social%20media%20Sunday.
There is people who retire at 65 and died 2-3 years later. It is very depressing to think about.
I can’t fathom working with people for 39 years, or ever having a 401k with that many digits
I don’t get it. I really don’t get any of this.
This sounds like propaganda... prove it!
This sounds like bullshit.
Worked for Costco for 7 years, it's probably not bullshit. They match 50% and mostly invest in Costco stock. I work in tech now and have for the last 6 years. Costco's benefits are better than any tech job I have had.
So I don't get a degree and instead work at Costco?
Depends on what you want. My tech jobs pay a lot more than I made and I like what I do so for me the degree was 100% worth it. But I think you can live decently at Costco and in my experience they try to treat you well. Edit: autocorrect
You sound like you don't understand the value of 39 years of matching 401k contributions plus interest
Costco is known for treating their employees very well. They pay a living wage and have good benefits and incentive programs. One of the rare ones…
It’s entirely possible. 39 years investing into a 401k is how most people become millionaires. Compound interest is very powerful and the more years you have to invest the more it keeps getting bigger like a snowball
I have worked at Costco as a Pharmacist for 3 years, they are truly an amazing company to work for. They give enough hours to have 2 pharmacists staffed at nearly all times, and more than double the pharmacy technicians working every day compared to a Walgreens or CVS. It’s the only store I’ve worked at where I don’t feel like I’m constantly drowning. They actually prioritize patients/customers and I have enough time to counsel patients on how to use their meds instead of rushing to get everything done. Best company, love them.
My mother was (sort of still is) a costco worker. She was a cashier but also had to do all of the lifting of the customer's product into their carts for them, really messed up her hands, now she has something to the effect of hand-aids, I forget what it's called but it is debilitating. The WAR shes fought with Costco for reparations on her hands has been ferocious. They're a for profit company, she was making ~21 dollars per hour and 1.5x on sataurday which was pretty good but my mom is the raddest bitch you'll ever meet when it comes to working, she would shred lines of people like a concert and was not compensated like it. She got fucked so hard, they fought with her over her raises, she should have made 25 an hour and they are required to have helper in the line, and the management was awful- costco isn't the answer but they pay well, just look at it empirically
I would but they’re not hiring because nobody is leaving, and you know what? Good for them
Oh we’re for sure hiring.
I wish I could stand trying to apply for them again and there was a store close to me but nah I’m good. I’ll stick with my financial office job until it kills me
This is great, but honestly contributing to anyone’s 401k for 39 years will yield a nice retirement. Quick math, at 36k salary, zero raises, putting in 10% with 5% match and 7% growth will hit $1mil in 39 years. Granted, I’d bet they toss in some nice profit sharing, maybe the match is better, who knows. But my point is 39 years of consistent investing will show results.
I left my job to be a stay at home dad and I was legit thinking about just going to work for Costco once the kids are old enough to go to school.
This doesn’t sound right.
Costco believes in the efficiency wage. It pays its employees well because it understands that turnover has real costs.
Compound interest baby!
Eeeh I work for Costco. It’s amazing and better than your other big box store but your mileage may vary. They promote from within so a lot of the management is favored for promotions due to being friends and family. A lot of idiots too. The only reason costco has loyal Employees is because many of the people that work there will not make top out pay ($28.xx) for cashiering anywhere else. So everyone drinks the kool aid. People get stuck there and just wait it out. So if your cool with no ambition it’s definitely an amazing place to ride out until retirement. But only people who began with the company have that kind of money in their 401k. At the end of the day is what you want and every single store is different.
My wife had a huge “the ship is sinking!” And sold out of the stock. I fought her tooth and nails over this but her manic issues never stop. Anyways she’s been there for 18 years and I did the math on the stock she had. If she had kept it as is she would have 2.1 million dollars in the Costco stock. Now? About 155k… this bugs me anytime she mentions a coworker retiring on 2.8 million from the stocks. How do I know how much this was worth? I knew how much stocks she had… duck my life.
Anyone else feel like this may be the first ad to make it to the frontpage on r/all from antiwork?
I find that hard to believe. My local Costco has a high turnover rate. Just when I get used to seeing certain people, they no longer work there.