In America, Almost Anyone Can Be a Millionaire: Critics of capitalism miss how hard work and savings can make any of us rich. (Daniel Di Martino, Jul 17, 2026, City Journal)
The Wall Street Journal recently profiled a Costco worker named Tony Barzar from Arizona. Barzar never went to college, only taking some community college classes without finishing. Nonetheless, working his entire life in grocery stores and Costco, he has amassed over $1 million in his 401(k) account. He also owns a home with a pool and has traveled to Europe twice in the last decade—all while making just shy of $33 per hour.
He got there not by some great feat, but by slow and steady saving. Costco has a conservative employer retirement savings match program, matching 50 percent of contributions up to $1,000. To amass $1 million over the last four decades, Barzar would have needed to put just over 5 percent of his paycheck plus the Costco match in a standard ETF tracking the S&P500.
This kind of growth is achievable for the vast majority of young people in America today. At age 20, Barzar had a starting annual salary of $35,000 in today’s dollars. Today’s median 20- to 24-year-old full time worker earns over $42,000—nearly 20 percent more.