Which State to Call Home

[Adie]

So we are 7 years in to our 10 year plan. Downsizing is in full swing. We are reading more and more each day, headaches (good ones) are plentiful. But one question, which is personal to everyone. Of the three states that offer more friendlier advantages to full timers TX, FL, and SD what are your personal experiences? Any information is helpful and we know the choice depends on a lot of things, but just curious.

 

Thanks!

[NDBirdman]

Welcome to the forum!  Everything I've seen/read on here, if were were to change domicile, we would probably use Souf Dakoota.  As it is, we will always use ND, but our situation is different than yours more than likely.  Key thing I say to look at, is state income taxes.  Depending on your pocket, not paying state income taxes can be a big chunk.  For us, my situation, I will probably retain ownership of our place as long as health allows, probably not even sell then.  ND loves the heck out of veterans.   :-)

[Adie]

Thanks for the reply. My wife is a 20yr USAF veteran. SD does seem to top the list on many points. It will be interesting to read different view points from real RVers instead of listtto lectures, though we enjoy them. 

[NDBirdman]

Thank your wife for her service!  I retired after 20 up here from Minot AFB.  Why not Minot, freezin's the reason... LOL  There's lots of good reading here on domicile and why on each state, search it if you haven't.  If it's wasn't for the property tax breaks available for disabled vets, I would probably sell/move south-west.  Mid winter, this place is horrible (wind chill is -30 right now, had to walk down and get the paper).  Summer, can't beat it anywhere!

[JRP]

Between the big 3 (SD, TX, FL) it usually becomes a personal preference choice. My personal experience is with SD for 10 yrs and I've been very happy with both SD and Americas Mailbox as my home address. The only negative with SD is if you need private health insurance that you want to use nationwide as you travel (which applies to many other states these days). If military service or Medicare or previous employer takes care of all your healthcare needs, then its not an issue. The other item to watch for is that some SD Counties hit you with a "wheel tax". its usually about $4-5 per wheel on top of the state registration fees. For 2 vehicles, its not a big deal, but for folks like me who have several seasonal vehicles, it can  add up. Americas Mailbox is based in Pennington County and that county has not yet implemented a wheel tax, but many others have, and although the state is pushing for all counties to use a wheel tax, its left up to each individual County.

[sandsys]

For many health care was the deciding factor. If you are covered under your wife's military benefits that puts you a big step ahead. For some people estate questions need to be answered. For some income tax is a big factor. For others sales tax is an issue. For some whether or not you need to get a special driver's license is considered. For some right to die issues come into play. For some who choose to remain unmarried common law factors can be an issue. For some the fact that Rainbow Drive addresses have been tested by the courts is a factor. For some homeschooling rules are a factor. For some locations they will visit regularly in their travels are a factor. That there are so many things to consider is why there is no one best answer for all of us. Each of us has to consider what factors are most important to us then make our choice. For us to each tell you what factors influenced us is a bit more than some of us choose to share. Some times it's even hard to remember why we chose what we did way back then.

Linda Sand

[Adie]

Thank you Linda, some more things to think about. I will never expect people to share anything personal. Especially in such a public forum. This is a great resource for information. We get some much info from so many different places. We are thinking of just sticking to a few places. Not saying one is better than the other. 

 

Thanks again 

[Kirk W]

There are many things to consider in selecting your state of domicile. For those not yet eligible for Medicare and not retired military or with some other employer supplied health care plan, FL has many advantages. We chose TX for many reasons but they were our reasons and each person should look at what they have to deal with. An important factor is just how much do you intend to move to your chosen new domicile?  One major advantage to the Escapee's Livingston address is that Livingston is probably the only place where every businessman, professional person, public official, or medical office knows what a fulltimer is and how we live. Escapees have a major economic impact on the community and most of the community appreciate that fact. I do suggest that before you make up your mind you need to do some reading on the subject. I suggest The Issue of Domicile and also Choosing a Domicile, both on the links. 

 

[Adie]

Thank you! 

[Twotoes]

I don’t know anything about FL, sorry. I went with SD over TX for several reasons. I knew I was going to purchase a Class A Diesel and SD exsise tax (sales tax) is only 4%. TX, I believe is 7%, not sure. Also you don’t need a special liscense to drive a motorhome. TX requires a commercial liscense, Class B I think. TX also requires an inspection every year to renew the tags, with some exceptions if you are not physically present in the state. SD you can renew by mail, but you do have to go back every 5 years to renew your drivers liscense. The one negitive regarding SD is health insurance if you are under 65 and not on MediCare. 

[Kirk W]

15 hours ago, Twotoes said:

I knew I was going to purchase a Class A Diesel and SD exsise tax (sales tax) is only 4%. TX, I believe is 7%, not sure. Also you don’t need a special liscense to drive a motorhome. TX requires a commercial liscense, Class B I think. TX also requires an inspection every year to renew the tags, with some exceptions if you are not physically present in the state. SD you can renew by mail, but you do have to go back every 5 years to renew your drivers liscense.

You are wrong on most of this. Sales tax in TX on a vehicle is 6.25%. For a rig over 2600# there is a license requirement but no RV requires a commercial license and as many here can tell you, if you can't pass the test for the RV endorsement, you shouldn't be on the road. You do not have to return to TX to renew your driver's license but on alternate renewals and the license is for 6 years, not 5. (I know of no state that does not require you to periodically get a new photograph and vison check).

There is nothing wrong with choosing SD if you prefer, but please do not invent negatives about any other state. 

[sandsys]

1 hour ago, Kirk W said:

 One major advantage to the Escapee's Livingston address is that Livingston is probably the only place where every businessman, professional person, public official, or medical office knows what a fulltimer is and how we live.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota, probably runs a close second. When we stopped into one business they asked if we were Westporters--that's the street our mail forwarder was on. And the DMV was familiar with licensing new RVs that came with two titles--one for the vehicle and one for the conversion. And they were willing to find me a license plate that would be easy to remember when checking into RV parks. You don't get that type of service everywhere.

Linda Sand

[NDBirdman]

2 hours ago, Kirk W said:

 and eye check).

Don't know what you mean by eye check, but every time I get my lisc. renewed, I have to get mine checked.  They have a little machine on the counter, have to pass their eye check every time.  It's not detailed, just, read the smallest line you can.  If not, off for new glasses then back again.  Been this way for the 20 years I've been here.  This is Norf Dakoota.

[Dutch_12078]

We're licensed in NY State, and we can have our license renewal eye check done by any licensed eye care professional even for online renewals. My wife and I have annual eye checkups anyway, so when our licenses are coming up for renewal, we just have them fill out the needed form while we're there, so there's no extra cost. We could also get the testing done for free at the DMV office of course...

[Adie]

When you all say eye test. This is just the test you do say the DMV when obtaining your license, correct? 

Thanks for all the information and we are grateful for being part of such a huge community.

[Kirk W]

50 minutes ago, Adie said:

When you all say eye test. This is just the test you do say the DMV when obtaining your license, correct? 

That is correct. It is a very simple test done with a machine sitting on the counter at each license window by the employee working there. It just verifies if you need glasses to drive & that you can see enough to do so. It takes only a couple of minutes. 

[remoandiris]

Been a Fla resident since 2004.  Going FT next month.  Will keep Fla, just switch the address to Crestview. 

If we buy an HDT, will change to SD and America's Mailbox.  Fla is a real PITA getting insurance for an HDT.  BTDT.  SD is easier, whether it is a RV or private truck.  Other than that, I see no reason to change. 

[FL-JOE]

It was a no brainer for us on which state to pick.  I did all the research and narrowed it down as it applied to our situation (financial/personal).  The three top states FL, TX, SD, were all in the running.  After spending part of a winter in Texas and comparing it to Florida we went with Florida.  We threw out SD pretty quickly just because something about being registered and being a resident of a state where I would seldom spend any time rubbed me the wrong way.

We have now been Florida residents for just over 5 years.  Never any issues with medical, voting, registrations (cheap), or anything else.  Florida's annual budgets are always strong and they know how to take care of their infrastructure better than  most states. 

Linda was correct, there are many reasons why each and every full timer will pick a certain state for residency.  

[Adie]

Personal ethics do come in to this decision about home state. 

Lots of reading to do.

[Kirk W]

57 minutes ago, FL-JOE said:

We threw out SD pretty quickly just because something about being registered and being a resident of a state where I would seldom spend any time rubbed me the wrong way.

One other thing about this sort of approach is that most of us find that it is beneficial to have a primary care doctor that we return to more or less annually for our physicals and any continuing maintenance prescription medical needs. By having this doctor in the state you choose as your domicile, it then means that you spend at least a brief period in that area, occasionally. In our case, our primary care doctor, dentist, financial advisor, insurance agent, and all of our other ties were also in the place of our driver's license and vehicle registration. We found that to be very convenient for doing any needed personal business with one visit. Like most things, there are other ways to do things but this worked very well for us. And since part of the definition of domicile is the place you plan to return when travels end, that also proved to be the case since after 12 years we did buy a home-base once more in TX.

[Barbaraok]

3 hours ago, Kirk W said:

That is correct. It is a very simple test done with a machine sitting on the counter at each license window by the employee working there. It just verifies if you need glasses to drive & that you can see enough to do so. It takes only a couple of minutes. 

But be careful if you have had any unusual eye surgery/eye problems.  Dave has only peripheral vision in one eye (view collapse in that eye), so when it is time to renew, we have the online form filled out by his retinologist ahead of time so we can just hand it to them when renewing.  Saves a lot of time as they will otherwise refuse to renew until he gets a physician's statement that he can drive.  BTW, he is 20/20 in the other eye and if he had NO vision in his right eye, they would ok it on the spot!

[zaleeraven]

21 hours ago, Twotoes said:

I don’t know anything about FL, sorry. I went with SD over TX for several reasons. I knew I was going to purchase a Class A Diesel and SD exsise tax (sales tax) is only 4%. TX, I believe is 7%, not sure. Also you don’t need a special liscense to drive a motorhome. TX requires a commercial liscense, Class B I think. TX also requires an inspection every year to renew the tags, with some exceptions if you are not physically present in the state. SD you can renew by mail, but you do have to go back every 5 years to renew your drivers liscense. The one negitive regarding SD is health insurance if you are under 65 and not on MediCare. 

Thank You for this Info, I'm on the verge of selling my home in VA where the Personal Prop Taxes are eating me alive as well as the registration fees for both my 2018 Ford F-150 and my 2018 Keystone Bullet TT. I'm still on the fence after a year of trying to decide. My major problem is that I would be traveling thru TX more often, but with them I'd have to get that pesky inspection every year. Yuk! Any advice?

[bobsallyh]

You do not have to get the inspection done if you are out of state. If and when you come into Texas there is a period of time to get the inspection done. The only inspection sticker we ever have had was when we bought our new dually in Livingston in 2003. Had it done again when we were in Hondo for a month in 2010.

[zaleeraven]

Thank You Bobsallyh, How about the auto insurance? I understand TX is cheaper than both SD and FL. I have a daughter in FL and my primary care physician is in FL as well at the Viera VA clinic. I've used my daughter's addy on occasion but understand that FL is an at-fault state when it comes to auto insurance. I don't want to make FL my domicile but I already have ties there and it will probably be where I retire from the road. Can I make TX my domicile now and change to FL later? Thank you for your input. Lee

[Twotoes]

22 hours ago, Kirk W said:

You are wrong on most of this. Sales tax in TX on a vehicle is 6.25%. For a rig over 2600# there is a license requirement but no RV requires a commercial license and as many here can tell you, if you can't pass the test for the RV endorsement, you shouldn't be on the road. You do not have to return to TX to renew your driver's license but on alternate renewals and the license is for 6 years, not 5. (I know of no state that does not require you to periodically get a new photograph and vison check).

There is nothing wrong with choosing SD if you prefer, but please do not invent negatives about any other state. 

Kirk, you usually are a good fellow but this time you made me mad, I did not invent negitives about TX. I did not say that TX sales tax was 7% I said I thought the sales tax was 7%, I was close to the 6.25% you say.  TX does require a special drivers liscense for an RV, SD does not.  TX does require an inspection to renew your tag, it may be delayed by lack of presence in the state but as soon as you enter TX you have to get the inspection. I did not say that TX drivers liscense renews every 5 years, I said SD is 5 years. You can renew your drivers liscense in SD by mail if you have a physical address, with no eye test, but with a PMB you do have to renew in person, and show proof of one night stay in SD with in the last year.