Fulltimer - establishing state residency - RV-Dreams Community Forum

birder526 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Fulltimer - establishing state residency

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

We recently evaluated and decided on Florida over South dakota.The last option, Texas, never was a option for us.

car/rv Insurance is cheap here... sales tax is only 3% more.
Didn't want to travel to south dakota... and back again in like 5 years again.. from a price point , that was the real killer.. cause it would have cost like $1200 each time I went.. kinda killed the sales tax benefit..

Plus I figure florida is more accessible for us.. I have to be somewhere in the winter.. It won't be Texas.. could be Florida or Az.. maybe even Mexico.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

If you are pre-Medicare, then there are no "good health plan offerings" in SD. Lots of pre-Medicare fulltimers are having to move their domicile out of SD because of it. I can't help on Florida or Texas, since we have reasons to be Washington State residents. You can go through Escapees for either Florida or Texas or use St. Brendans Isle for Florida.

South Dakota is a great state to visit. We spent a week in the Black Hills in September and had a great time.

-- Edited by bjoyce on Saturday 18th of October 2014 05:57:50 AM

mylittledogs · RV-Dreams Family Member

Unlike others we chose South Dakota no state inspection on rv or jeep. Driver licenses is renewed every 5 years, the first 5 years my mail. So you only have to be in South Dakota every 10th year. No state tax on S.S. or pension. We are 62 and do have health insurance. I just like not having to be somewhere each year for a state inspection sticker. Everyone has different reasons why they chose a state. Mine was simple, in the end you will have to weight them all out and choose good luck.

Kenny & Frances

birder526 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Kenny and Frances,

Thank you for your response. Did you obtain your health insurance through a SD agent? My husband has medicare, but I do not as I am 61. Any recommendation you might have would be appreciated.

We liked SD for the same reasons you mentioned, but will look into TX and FL as other possibilities.

Have a great day!

Diane

birder526 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi bjoyce,

Thanks for your response. We will definitely look into your comments about health plans in SD. My husband has medicare, but at 61, I am not eligible yet.

Glad to hear about the Black Hills...it is a place we want to go. Where did you camp?

Have a great day!

Diane

birder526 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Junkman,

Thanks for your reply! We will look into FL as an option.

Best,

Diane

Alie and Jims Carrilite · RV-Dreams Family Member

We are SD residents, and went thru Kyle- RV'ERS HEALTH INSURANCE. He's one of the logos at the bottom of the page. We're with WellMark which is BCBS.

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

someone mentioned inspections..

There is no inspection stickers in Florida, either.

And if your a gun person, it's a good state too..

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

http://rverhealthinsurance.com/avera-announces-will-insuring-rvers-2015/ - Things are still up in the air over 2015 health insurance in SD, at least through the exchanges.

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

Choosing a state has so many factors, and you have to consider them for your own unique situation.

Here's our article going over the things to consider, and a brief synopsis of the 3 top options (SD, FL and TX), along with resources:
www.technomadia.com/domicile (and if you choose FL, here's the process outlined: www.technomadia.com/florida).

For healthcare, since you're not eligible for Medicare, carefully research and consider this one. Kyle at RVerHealthInsurance.com has lots of great info. We also have an article at www.technomadia.com/healthcare

Best wishes!

2riker2go · RV-Dreams Family Member

mylittledogs wrote:
Unlike others we chose South Dakota no state inspection on rv or jeep. Driver licenses is renewed every 5 years, the first 5 years my mail. So you only have to be in South Dakota every 10th year. No state tax on S.S. or pension. We are 62 and do have health insurance. I just like not having to be somewhere each year for a state inspection sticker. Everyone has different reasons why they chose a state. Mine was simple, in the end you will have to weight them all out and choose good luck.

Kenny & Frances

I've heard contradicting statements about whether rv'ers are really able to renew by mail for the first renewal. We went with SD when we started out two years ago and that law had just been signed. But I have been told by another rv'er, and our mail forwarding service then confirmed, that even when renewing by mail you must have evidence of a stay within the state within the past thirty days. So not sure that law really applies to rv'ers. We are in the process of changing our domicile to FL now.

TheNewhalls · RV-Dreams Family Member

We just became residents of Florida. We are using St. Brendan's Isle for our mail forwarding and we are happy with their service. Every thing went smoothly. Our driver's licenses are renewable in 9 years, maybe because our birthdays are early in 2015.

Diana and Jim · RV-Dreams Family Member

On our trip to Florida recently, we stopped in Crestview and spoke with the folks at My RV Mail. Nice folks. They have some very affordable plans, and they also are associated with Good Sam and Passport America. Membership in either club gets you a discount on mail service with My RV Mail. It's worth your time to compare them with St Brendan's Isle. Be sure to compare your auto insurance rates in both zip codes also. SBI is really close to Jacksonville.

Jim (and Diana)

birder526 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thank you, Bill!

This is very helpful!

Diane

birder526 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jim and Diana,

Thank you for this info about My RV Mail. I have looked into SBI but I am glad to see another option! Much appreciated! And, I will be sure we look into auto insurance rates in both FL zip codes.

Diane

birder526 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Gene and Eileen,

Thank you for the good word about SBI. We have looked into them as we evaluate FL as a state in which to establish residency. I am glad to hear positive things about them.

Diane

birder526 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cherie,

Thanks for all of your info. I will look at your article and resources. My head is spinning so it is good to hear from so many folks with experience with all of this!!

Diane

DenJen12 · RV-Dreams Family Member

We use American Home Base out of Pensacola, FL. Great rates..friendly helpful people. They took care of registering our vehicles and everything for us and a year later we finally made the journey to Florida to switch our license over. Our FL DL now only has the license number of our rv as our street address, along with Pensacola, FL as the city state. If they were to pull actually files though, they have our physical address (given to us by our mail service)on record as well. Since hubby and I quite a ways from retiring, we still have health insurance through his work so we don't have to worry about that. There are no vehicle inspections in FL and I believe all the renewals for licenses can be done online. I know for sure that vehicle renewals can be all done online and then mailed to your "home base" and then on to you. We have used the company for almost 2 years and definitely pleased with our experience with both them and with taking up residency in FL. Also things to take into consideration would be the initial fees of switching over. If any of the vehicles you have were purchased in the last year or 2, you will have to consider sales tax again in the new state. Florida does credit you for sales tax paid in other states on said vehicle. Their state tax rate is 6% I believe so if you paid more than that, you will be fine, if you paid less than that, you may owe a little to Florida. Not all states do this. Plus vehicle renewals each year are quite cheap...running around $58 I believe. Maybe less for an RV.
Just a few other things to think about. Good luck in your search and have fun in the teardrop!

Diana and Jim · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sounds like there are lots of companies to choose from in Florida! Are there any others? We haven't made our decision yet, so we are going to have to revisit SBI and check out AHB and Escapees. Great thread, folks!

Jim (and Diana)

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

I would stick to a company who all they do is this..my opinion. I've found people "care" more about your business.

-- Edited by The Junkman on Wednesday 22nd of October 2014 07:54:41 AM

el Rojo and Pam · RV-Dreams Family Member

I will add we have had good service through Escapees in Texas.

FWIW

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have used Escapees for more than 15 years of mailing services. In that time we have had ONE mistake made. I consider that pretty good service. You can do FL or TX at the current time (for domicile address) with Escapees, and they are adding SD.