Is salary pooling common in your workplace?

In my area, salary pooling is super common. Not sure if that’s the right term in English, but we call it that. Basically, a group of 5-6 coworkers pitch in their salaries for a lottery. The first winner takes the whole pot, then it rotates. It's just a coin flip to decide who goes first.

Haha, I know this one! It's wild how you guys use the whole salary. Here, we usually just put in about 30% to keep it manageable for bills. Plus, we pay fees to the organizer. So if six of us put in a grand, the return is lower due to those fees.

That’s not really happening here. We do have cooperatives, but they aren’t about gambling for salaries. It’s more structured. The order of who gets the money is decided in meetings. If they used dice or a coin flip, it wouldn’t feel right to me.

Interesting! In my country, it's kinda similar but includes everyone, not just workers. People contribute a set amount, like monthly, and one person collects it. There have been issues with collectors running off with the money though, so it's risky.

We don’t call it a salary lottery either. We refer to it as a contribution. It's a way to pool cash for big projects instead of loans. But we only contribute a portion of our salary, and we draw numbers to decide who gets the pot.

I’ve heard of this in Asia, but honestly, it sounds like bad financial planning. You’re always paying out money you could’ve used. Trusting everyone to pay up is a big leap.

What a weird lottery. What’s the point of getting cash upfront just to wait a long time for your turn? If it’s to fund deals, isn’t it easier to just use bank loans?

I guess OP is from a place with a decent standard of living. No way could anyone go six months without a paycheck here. Family would be mad if they thought someone was gambling with their salary.

I just don’t get it. If the first person collects everyone’s salary, how does the others survive? Like, are they using savings or something? That’s a long time to go without cash.

This is risky, especially with more participants. If even a few can’t pay, the pot shrinks. I tried something similar before it worked at first, but after getting my share, I was stuck paying every month, and it wasn’t fun anymore.

Never heard of this salary lottery thing before. Seems like a gamble to me. What if someone gets fired or quits? That messes everything up.

It exists here, but we call it a monthly contribution. Not everyone has to be coworkers. There are definitely risks, like if someone loses their job and can’t pay back.

Lol, someone I know called it a sustainable Ponzi scheme. Makes no sense to me. Six months without any salary? That’s a long time to plan.

In my area, it's similar too. We contribute smaller amounts from our salaries, usually not more than 30%. I don’t participate much because I’m skeptical.

It’s not really gambling. Everyone gets their share, it's just a matter of timing. If you can manage your budget, why not? But if you need monthly cash, it’s not for you.

I get why people do this, but calling it a lottery seems off. It’s a group of workers helping each other out, but the waiting game could be tough.

The idea is that by pooling together, people can fund bigger projects. But there’s definitely a trust issue. The first few might bail after they cash out.

Yeah, sounds a bit like a pyramid scheme honestly. But at least the coin flip is fair. Still, working through months with little cash? No thanks.

So they have to manage their lives until it’s their turn. But that’s tough. How do they survive on just the hope of that lump sum at the end?

I haven’t done this personally, but I thought it was just local. People must be careful. There’s gotta be a backup plan if you’re going months waiting for cash.