I inherited over 100 grand...what would you do

I'm 41, Just lucky that my divorce was final a few months before this happened. I'm learning about investments as much as I can, and I do have an IRA, I just want to get my career moving before I make any major investments. Even if I have to invest 30 to 50k to become a business owner as long as it's highly likely to be successful, I'm willing to do it.

Just trying to figure out how much money a successful owner operator can make seems to me most make around 80 to 90 cents a mile after all is paid.

80 cents a mile, 10000 miles a month is 8k a month, or 96k a year.

That's way more than I ever made as a company driver. The gig I just got fired from promised me 70k a year, but I did the math and best drivers there make less than 60.

 

Luke,
Here is what I would do.

I would go to say Fidelity or some other investment firm and talk to them about low risk forms of investments. A good advisor will explain the differences and help guide you to where the money should end up. Don't do a thing like the stock market or what ever without an advisor.

Now I would think hard about taking money and using it for trucking, you could buy a truck and put it on the road as a driver, but I think I would do something different to get a good cash flow happening, look at a brick and mortar place that takes a small investment, like (don't laugh) a subway shop or something other cheap franchise. I would do that to have an anchor of sorts, using the money in the investment vehicle as the collateral for a loan to get it going. You can pay that off and then use it to get back into trucking.

Just a suggestion.

 

alright, so your old enough to not blow it like a kid. and you want to be an owner operator. but why go independent? by that I mean you are the carrier with your mc number. most guys (not all but most) would make more money if they were leased to a quality carrier. I'm not talking lease purchase. when you sign on(hired by) to an owner operator company you are legally leasing them the equipment.

I've done both, had my own authority, and been leased to carriers before. currently with mercer, would highly suggest you consider them if you don't mind flat bed work. for what it's worth, I'm doing better than 1. 40/ mile after expenses.
so in a nut shell, yes you will make much better money running your own truck, but only if you get away from the per mile pay scale companies.

 

Remember that your paying fuel so your little formula for 100k a year is mostly going to go to fuel. O/O need high paying, low milage loads. More miles= more fuel, wear and tear, less money etc etc. whole different mentality than a company driver.

Also, it seems like your mind is made up, you want to become owner op. you came here looking for people to say, yeah thats a good idea. But i dont think you will be getting that. Theres better things to do with the money. But you seem to have your mind made, so let us know what happens.

 

Wow $1.40 a mile after expenses! That's some serious banking. I'm assuming that your truck is paid off.

While my mind is not "made up" I know that I'm good at driving and I don't want to throw away 10 years of experience if I can turn it into something I can enjoy being my own boss and anyone making buck forty a mile after expenses is making way more than 100k a year.

I'm not opposed to being with one company as long as it's with a paid off truck, I've always assumed guys with lease purchase got the bad loads just as rookie truck drivers who sign contracts for paid trucking school, as they are kinda married to the company with that contract. I could always get my own financing if I decided best not to pay for entire truck up front. So that would be a tough decision to make.

How much would it cost to get a good used truck that Mercer would find acceptable?

I'd rather do it with a paid off truck if I end up going that route, and great replies like this give me all the more info to make a good decision,but my mind is by no means made up.

Thanks to all. I'll be thinking about you all around the campfire this weekend, we're gonna get some moonshine from Tennessee on the way!

 

I thought we had this conversation but i guess not......

I would not invest that money in trucking and the only trucking that will get you home every night is dump , hot shot and cans. None of which pay great.

Forget the truck and buy houses to flip. Not rent, flip. The golden goose has landed for you so don't blow it. Many said it well.....lose it and it's hard to get back.

JMO

 

The good news is 130k is a lot of money...the bad news is its just enough to be able to blow it all and not know how it all went away. The govt is propping up stocks by purchasing bonds. Those long term rates are now atarting to climb and the fed is considering tapering the bond buying. What that means in short is stock market volitility but a good financial advisor could navigate the rough waters. Invest a good portion despite the inevitible volitility we are on the verge of a period of economic expansion and it should be easy to average a 5% return over 10-15 years.

If you want to be an O/O use a safe amount like 30k to invest into your business. If you are smart and control expenses you can make money. Like others stated trucks depreciate but you can use that to your advantage on a balance sheet as you track expenses. The money will give you a capital investment to get started but dont waste it by flying by the seat of your pants. Set a goal for the company to pay you back over a period of time sot personally you will be even on the transaction and your business can turn a profit.

Pay yourself a reasonable wage and keep the rest as a return on investment to save on taxes. For example if the business is generating $65,000 in profit in a year your pay is $40,000 and make the rest your return on investment and you pay less taxes since its not payroll and keep more. Its not impossible to make money in trucking but you have to be smart. You have enough money to invest some and start a business the right way but its also enough to spend it all and wind up with nothing. Be careful and be smart. And get professional advice in addition to what you get here.

 

Get a coffee can and a shovel.......then head for the oil fields.

 

I made some nice cash on an investment & the first thing I did was buy a retirement home in the Orient & rented it out. Put retirement first because that sneaks up on you and can really be fast if you fail a DOT physical or lose your CDL. Many truckers bought retirement homes/condos in places like Ecuador, Philippines, etc. In fact I talked to a Schneider driver that bought a retirement cottage in Costa Rica and paid cash; plans to retire in about 2 years. A UPS driver did the same in Ecuador. Myself and a co-worker did the same in the Orient. Another trucker I know did the same in Shanghai. Think retirement first!

 

I am going to get my CDL and try to drive a rental semi truck by calling brokers, so i can get enough money to buy some houses.

Last year i was looking at houses that i could buy for 5,000 and fix up for 5,000, these were duplexes and even though some people charge up to $700 for each unit, i dont know who could pay that so i say i would charge only 500 for the whole thing, letting me make 5,000 a year after paying taxes, i would get my money back after 2 years on those, i could also turn it into a boarding house and get up to triple that and still be giving people a good deal

Right now im looking into house sold by the city and county for $500 to $2000 , i haven seen any of the $500 houses but i have looked at some of the $2000 houses, some all you have to do is buy it and do an eviction on the people living there, the company that i was looking at that has the $5,000 houses for sale does that but i dont think i ever will, and the ones that are empty only need a little work , so if i spent $5,000 al together i can easily get that back in a year if not sooner on a 4 bedroom house, and every year after that its all profit, so if i buy 6 houses for 30k ( i will have to do a lot of driving around looking at the conditions of each house to find a good one) after the first year im getting 30k a year profit. The tennants would deposit the rent money at the nearest bank using a slip with a routing number on it so i wouldnt need to come collect the rent every month.

There are a lot of other investments that work the same way , that if you invest 10k and are getting at least 5k back a year it can be a better investment that merril lynch