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Beertirement!

Tonight I contributed to my retirement fund... By drinking beer!

What?  How?  That's CRAZY!

Yes.  Crazy awesome.

I call it beertirement.

Retiring on beer.

Okay, so let's backup.  First off, I'd like to say that I'm long a particular stock called Constellation Brands.  The stock ticker is STZ.  Basically they own a TON of wine brands, but along with that they also own the right to distribute Corona in the US.  The stock is up a ridiculous amount of percentage points in the last 5 years and they also recently started paying a quarterly dividend.  It wasn't until the dividend that it showed up on my stock screen and I finally bought shares and added it to my investment portfolio.

But that's NOT what beertirement is about... What is beertirement?

Beertirement is about saving for retirement by drinking beer.  How is that possible you ask?  It's easy.

Today is the first of the month which means today I got a deposit in two of my accounts from my credit card cash back.  Now, I currently have my card setup to split 50/50 the cash back between my general investment account and my personal retirement account.  I also have a retirement account through work... but that's different and that's just on autopilot and some of my paycheck from work goes into that.

SO, this is ANOTHER retirement account that I have.

I also get my entire trust fund when I turn 50... SO really that will PROBABLY be my actual retirement.  But you can never have enough retirement accounts right?

Okay so, where was I?  Oh yeah, beertirement.  Well... The way it works is I use my credit card to buy things I need in life, like gas and groceries and pay bills... and of course, buy beer when I'm out on the town!

Well, my credit card pays me back for making purchases.  At the 1st of every month, provided that I make the minimum payout limit, I get a payment into my account.  Well, I used to just pay it into my general trading account and then I would use that to put towards putting into investments.  Recently I got a new credit card issued to me that now allows me to add my retirement account in addition to the usual investing account.  SO, I decided to make it 50/50.  I put half of the cash back into my normal account and the other half goes into my retirement account.

Now each time I'm out and buy a beer... I'm also contributing to my retirement!

As the money is deposited into the account I'll be able to use that money to buy ETFs (those are Exchange Traded Funds, which are like mutual funds but trade like stocks) or just buy stocks... Such as, STZ...

That means I'll buy shares in a company that sells beer, by using cash back from buying beer with my credit card.  Investing in beer by buying beer!

Beertirement!

"Yeah but beer is just a passing fad, I wouldn't put my money in something that might not be around by the time you retire..."

Chemical tests of ancient pottery jars reveal that beer was produced as far back as about 7,000 years ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_beer

You were saying?

Anyways, it's not ALL in beer stocks.  It's in other stocks and bonds and what not.  The point is, in addition to the money I'm already socking away for retirement, I'm able to use, basically, free money... in the form of my cash back credit card funds, to add to my retirement.  So now each time I go to order a beer... I don't feel so bad.  In fact... I'm happy to be contributing to my retirement portfolio!

Drink up!

If you'd like to try this yourself it's easy.

First, find a credit card that gives you a good 1.5 to 2 percent cash back without fees.  Next, make sure you pay each month in full, or you'll definitely be paying more money in interest than you'll be collecting in savings.  Open a general IRA or ROTH IRA account with a broker.  Use that credit card to buy most of the things you already buy, including beer!

When the cash back check comes in, or it gets deposited into your account... Put some/all of it into your IRA.  Buy a few beer stocks... Or just invest in anything that wets your appetite.  Or you can put the account on autopilot and let it be managed for you.

The point is... saving for retirement doesn't have to be hard.  In fact, it can be as easy as having a beer and paying for it with a cash back credit card and then using that cash back money to invest in your IRA or ROTH IRA retirement account!

Cool eh?

This also works with wine (winetirement)... So it doesn't matter if you're a beer drinker, or a wine drinker... or, even a coffee or tea drinker... coffeetireement... Teatirement...

Whatever it is you like... Put it on a cash back card... Pay the card in full.  Take the cash back and put that towards your retirement!  Now you can feel better about spending money.