iN NEED OF SOME HONEST ADVICE:

This is from as close to personal experience as I can give you. The money may look good but in all reality you are very young and have many more years ahead of you. If you settle, be sure to read the fine print. You will no longer be eligable to file another claim if something should happen down the road as a result of your injurys. My godfather (who also works for me) went through something similar. He was 20 something and got bit by a brown recluse on a job. It hospitalized him and he ended up with a blood clot. When he was in his early 30's they wanted to give him a buch of cash and settle the claim. He thought long and hard and after several friends told him don't do it, he didn't. This past June (he is now 54) he went home to visit his family and woke up in excruciating pain. The clot had moved on him and put him in ICU for 4 months (I am certain that his hospital stay alone this trip would have soared way past theamount they wanted to give him to settle even if you were to account for inflation). He just went back to work 2 weeks ago and W/C paid for everything. If he would have settled, he would have been up ####z creek without a paddle.

 

Filled in some stuff above good luck

 

ok...but you should REALLY CONSIDER getting a house to rent out to somebody (2 family at the very least) as the prices are TOO GOOD TO PASS UP! 10%,5%, EVEN &1% down!!!! There are TOO MANY programs to help get these houses off the bank's books if you can find them. Again, I WOULD IF I WAS IN YOUR FINANCIAL POSITION!!!

Again tax liens are a hot ticket too cuz EVERYBODY'S HAVING TROUBLE PAYING THEIR MORTGAGES...OR PROPERTY TAXES...leading to TAX LIENS!!! 16% or better return GUARANTEED!!!! But FedEx is a good move if you can work it. I read about a Wall St Exec. who was laid off and started his own FedEx Ground franchise. So...it's up to you and best wishes in whatever you do.

 

Sorry about your crash but glad you survived. There's been some good suggestions thrown your way, much better than anything I could come up with.

 

The Best investment living in California right now is Real Estate. I agree with the other poster that California taxes insurance will kill you with a trucking business.

 

DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER investing in real estate, Especially not in California ! The state is bankrupt. Things will get much worse in comming years. I am a professional builder/developer from Calif. Lost over a mil. 2 years ago. Took my company to Texas. Now Im moving to Panama. I have over 40 years experience in Cal. building & real estate. People who think prices are a good buy now cause they seem low are idiots with no clue about the value they think is so low. The very best you will do is park your money with no increase for at least 10 years. More likely you will lose money. My sugestion is to get out of the country. You can set yourself up for life very nicely in central or south america. Contact me here if you want more info ..pstonecastle at sbcglobal.net

 

Sorry about your accident. I'm afraid that trucking / fleet owner is really not for a person who has to hire out every aspect of the business, from driving to even a task like checking the oil.
Evidently you have reached a settlement of sorts so bargaining for some type of career rehabilitation is out,
You should ask yourself what you could offer as a fleet owner that would lure the very best of truck drivers to your company. Start up companies can't afford to go through 10 poor drivers to find the 1 good one, you'll be broke and without a truck when you have landed the perfect driver. A driver who fails to check the oil and burns up an engine will set you back $25,000 and the truck payments are still rocking on while all this takes place.
These are very difficult and perplexing times, trucking companies are failing by the thousands as well as equipment parked on every vacant piece of property.
If it were me I would hang onto the cash, sink it into the best CDs I could buy, because in the end CASH is always KING.
Best wishes for ya.

 

Glad you decided to do something else with your money Candyman. Was thinking you would need way more than 2 trucks to be able to bring in 6k a month free and clear after putting aside for repairs and paying your drivers, and for insurances and plates and permits and everything else.

Good Luck CandyMan

Glad to hear you are safe

 

You are in a unique and good situation for having survived that horrible crash. Why not use your experience to educate others? Have you ever heard of Charlie Morecraft? He is a safety lecturer who I had the good fortune to hear in person in 2000. (I was working at a Bredero Price pipe coating plant in Mobile AL, there had been two fatalities and a guy lost his arm to the shoulder on the fusion bonded epoxy line. They closed the plant for a day and required all of the workers and contractors to attend the lecture.) Charlie was horribly burned in a refinery accident and has the scars to scare the poop out of anyone. His lecture boils down to he could have avoided it by being safe and following procedure.

You have so much to offer, you write well and are articulate. With the added impact of your imparement, I think you could be a dynamic safety speaker. You wouldn't need to travel unless you wished, you can produce safety dvd's that all companies and driving schools show.

Just a thought, best of luck to you!

 

There was this guy Walt who had an idea and asked people about it, they told him he was crazy and gave him other suggestions, however, he didn't listen and did what he desired to do even though every thought he was doomed to fail.
Walt went ahead and created the first Walt Disney theme park, turned out, it was a good idea.

There is also a similar story about a guy named Sam and his stupid idea that even friends of his would support. He went ahead with his Idea and opened is his first wal-mart...

Of course there were also those that though Bill and his friend need to get out of the garage and get a real job... as if computers and some stupid information highway was a way to make a living...

I am not as confidnent as the others in telling you what you should do.. I probably would of thought Walt was crazy, Sam was silly if he thought he could compete with the big grocery chains and Bill and his friend were gay, why would two young guys spend so much time together in a garage instead of getting a real job and chasing girls.

From what I hear the trucking industry really sucks and there is no way to make it... I hope the successful OO I drive for doesn't learn about it and keeps doing well and giving me miles and money...

I am glad you survived the wreck... Do what you believe in and enjoy doing and you will do well...