23-Year-Old Won $137K On A Scratch-Off And Thinks He'll Retire by 40 —The Plan? Stocks, Gold, A New Car, And a Little 'Fun Money' on the Side

Retiring by 40 might sound like a pipe dream—unless you're 23, just hit a scratch-off for six figures, and think the stock market is about to do you a solid.

That's the situation one young man shared on Reddit's r/MiddleClassFinance subreddit after his fiancée won a $200,000 lottery prize. Post taxes, they're sitting on $137,500—and they already have a plan.

"We're planning on putting roughly $50K into the S&P 500. $20K into some sort of high-yielding savings account or another investment instrument. $10K on silver and gold," he wrote. The rest? A new car, bathroom remodel, dental surgery for their dog, and a little "fun money to enjoy life."

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The goal? "Financial freedom by our 30–40s." And if you've been around personal finance circles, you know the phrase: The first $100,000 is the hardest. Even Charlie Munger famously said, "The first $100,000 is a b****, but you gotta do it."

So does that early head start mean they're on the road to financial independence?

Reddit had opinions. Lots of them.

"Invest it in a low-cost index fund like [Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO] and forget about it," one user advised. "Let your money work for you while you keep working."

Another chimed in saying: "You'd be surprised how fast money can go. $100K is not life-changing unless you put it into VOO or something equivalent and don't touch it until you reach your retirement number."

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But others were quick to hit the brakes.

"If they invest $100K for the next 20 years at 10% a year, they'll have about $800K," one wrote. "Not exactly financially free in your early 40s."

Another walked them through a more detailed strategy:

"Open a Fidelity account. Move the $100K. Actually invest it. Set $450/month to VOO. If you live below your means, you may be able to coastFIRE."

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But the warnings came just as fast.

"My grandmother passed away. Most of her kids got $100K checks… gone within 2–3 years. They basically lived on it and weren't replacing it."

Some saw the post as grounded. Others saw fantasy. One user questioned if the couple even fit the sub's "middle class" theme, since the original poster is military and said his fiancée doesn't currently work.

"With how young they are, I'd be surprised if they were actually at middle-class income," a commenter said.

Still, whether you think it's wise or wildly optimistic, the idea that $137,000 could launch an early retirement lit a fire. And if there's one thing the internet never scrolls past, it's a 23-year-old casually mapping out financial freedom before most people pay off their student loans.

But let's talk reality.

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According to Western & Southern Financial Group, the "golden rule" of early retirement is to have 25 times your annual expenses saved. That's the idea behind the 4% rule: you withdraw 4% of your portfolio each year and it lasts around 30 years.

But if you're retiring at 40? You're aiming to cover 50+ years—and you'll probably need more.

Let's say you expect to live on $50,000 a year. You'd need at least $1.25 million by the time you hit 40. And that's in today's dollars.

Because inflation? It doesn't care about your scratch-off dreams.

At just a 3% inflation rate, that same $50,000 lifestyle could cost you closer to $90,000 a year by the time you're 60. So when Redditors raised eyebrows, it wasn't just about the car or gold—it was about whether this windfall could seriously stretch over five decades of "freedom."

That's the question that lingers: is this couple being bold—or just banking too much on beginner's luck?

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