So we just got back from Quartzsite, and even though we were far from being impressed with the RV's they had on display there, we did receive what we consider a wealth of information. After some research for the past few days we saw that changing our domicile to SD would be of great benefit for us, especially when it comes to buying our RV. Just in sales tax alone we would be saving approx. $15K, and registration it looks like around $2-3K in savings. America's Mailbox was great to talk to and it seems like the way to go. Being new to this any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. We also liked what we heard from Family Motor Coach Assoc. As far as our "toad", it seems as if Blue Ox is the tow-bar of choice. We wish we could've spent more time walking around and talking to the vendors instead of wasting our time looking at the RV's, but next year we'll know better. After talking to some full-timers, and many others, it makes us even more excited to join the ranks as Full Time RV'ers!
Alie and Jims Carrilite said
06:35 AM Jan 18, 2015
Check into Dakota Post in Sioux Falls as well. The service is great!
The Junkman said
06:42 AM Jan 18, 2015
Check your healthcare options as well. And maybe insurance..
I know a few who moved from SD to FL because of that..
bjoyce said
06:53 AM Jan 18, 2015
We have had both Blue Ox and Roadmaster towbars and they are both good. Each has its advantages and disadvantages and on a given day I prefer one over the other, while another day I change my mind. We switched from Blue Ox to Roadmaster when we changed toads because Roadmaster was a two hour drive from the installer, while Blue Ox was across the country. We had already decided to get a new towbar, since our Blue Ox one was showing its age and we wanted "all terrain". Turns out "all terrain" helps with getting locked up and hard to unhitch, but can still get locked up on occasion.
bigboomer said
11:11 AM Jan 18, 2015
Ron and Bee,
We are SD residences with Dakota Post (formally Alternative Resources) but because we are under 65 and not eligible for Medicare we have to now move our residency to Texas because the insurance companies in SD will not recognize the mail forwarding addresses and have told the insurance agents they will sever ties if they write policies with PMB addresses.
You can get certain policies on the exchange which are limited HMO'S but it is risky because they do not have to honor claims if you misled them about the address by doing the sign up online. They also will not renew you once they catch on to your address.
Because Escapees has already fought the battle in the courts in Texas to get their parks recognized as a physical address the insurance companies will right the policies there.
Check out rverhi.com where Kyle Henson explains it pretty good.
We will be checking out the Big Tent that is week.
Good luck....
Les and Sue
RonandBee said
12:30 AM Jan 19, 2015
Thanks everyone for the feedback. We'll probably go with the Blue Ox tow bars since there's several dealers here in town that sell and install them. As far as the insurance goes that's something I still need to look into. We still have a little while to look into the Medicare since we are only in our early 50's. We've been with Blue Cross/Shield for over 25 years now and have never had an issue with them, but that's still something I need to look into, along with the vehicle insurance. I really don't want to have TX as our domicile due to the yearly vehicle inspections. It really is amazing how much logistics there are involved in going full-timing. It's enough to make your head spin!
bjoyce said
07:15 AM Jan 19, 2015
RonandBee: I sense you have been reading so much that your brains are full and vital info has already leaked out. I would step back and reread much of RV-Dreams.com and previous discussions on this forum, maybe multiple times. You will find that SD is not good without Medicare or employer health insurance. Blue Cross/Blue Shield is not one big company, it is many smaller companies. So your experience where you are now might not be your experience somewhere else. There have been many discussions on the Texas inspections and you do not have to go back every year, just do them when you are in Texas. They are also not that much of a problem. Florida is also a good domicile state. We are domiciled in Washington State due to our health insurance, so we can be impartial on the choices between SD, TX and FL.
Alie and Jims Carrilite said
07:51 AM Jan 19, 2015
On the insurance front, if you are elgible for a subsidy then SD will not work for you. If you have to pay the full premium then there are 1 or 2 health insurance companies that MAY work for you. I have WellMark (aka BCBS) out of SD. So far it has been decent and covered me without question.
bigboomer said
09:50 AM Jan 19, 2015
Ron and Bee, Go to Kyle Henson website rverhealthinsurance.com where outlines everything including Wellmark which is still a crap shoot. Bottomline if you are under 55 and need health insurance in SD you are out of luck. We are not rolling the dice we are moving to Texas.
-- Edited by bigboomer on Tuesday 20th of January 2015 09:43:16 AM
RonandBee said
03:06 PM Jan 19, 2015
Thanks everyone! Yes, we are reading a lot and taking in soooo much information that our heads are hurting. I will really have to look into the health insurance aspect of full-timing. Like I said earlier, we've had Blue Cross/Shield for a long time and have lived in FL, VA, PA, CO and NV with no problems, but then again we weren't using a mail forwarding service to establish our domicile. Granted, we could make it easier and just keep our current domicile here in NV, but the extra sales tax and registration fees make me cringe. My head is starting to hurt again...hahaha Les and Sue, thanks for the links. I will have to check them out!
RonandBee said
04:46 PM Jan 20, 2015
Well, after looking more into it, and actually speaking with Kyle Henson from rvhealthinsurance.com, it looks as if staying here in our home state is going to be our best bet. Our insurance that we've been using for the past 25 years is great here. SD is out of the question because we would have to change insurance to make that a feasible option, and we're a bit leery doing that, especially since my retirement plan pays for the majority of it. TX is doable, but after looking at the sales tax it is only a fraction of what we are already paying, so it doesn't seen like it would be worth all the time and effort to change for basically what we have now. We didn't look much into FL, mainly because we have no plans in the near future to be in that neck of the woods. We lived there many, many years ago and really don't have much desire to go back for a while. So, it's more research, research, research...
So we just got back from Quartzsite, and even though we were far from being impressed with the RV's they had on display there, we did receive what we consider a wealth of information. After some research for the past few days we saw that changing our domicile to SD would be of great benefit for us, especially when it comes to buying our RV. Just in sales tax alone we would be saving approx. $15K, and registration it looks like around $2-3K in savings. America's Mailbox was great to talk to and it seems like the way to go. Being new to this any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. We also liked what we heard from Family Motor Coach Assoc. As far as our "toad", it seems as if Blue Ox is the tow-bar of choice. We wish we could've spent more time walking around and talking to the vendors instead of wasting our time looking at the RV's, but next year we'll know better. After talking to some full-timers, and many others, it makes us even more excited to join the ranks as Full Time RV'ers!
I know a few who moved from SD to FL because of that..
Ron and Bee, Go to Kyle Henson website rverhealthinsurance.com where outlines everything including Wellmark which is still a crap shoot. Bottomline if you are under 55 and need health insurance in SD you are out of luck. We are not rolling the dice we are moving to Texas.
-- Edited by bigboomer on Tuesday 20th of January 2015 09:43:16 AM