Forum Discussion

caysea7254's avatar
caysea7254
Explorer
Aug 10, 2018

Banking

We will be starting our fulltime adventure in Jan or Feb of 2019 or whenever our home sells. Trying to get all of our info together. Must be honest we are very overwhelmed right now because it seems so complicated getting everything in order of what to do first ,second, and so on. So what does everyone do for their bank? We are going to domicle in South Dakota, so do we get a bank in that state or is it ok to go with USAA? Im not sure what all we will need when we want to establish residency in South Dakota. I just got off phone with USAA and bank account easy enough to open, but they seemed to hesitate about Truck insurance if we were not going to reside in one primary state. Are we not suppose to mention we will be fulltiming for banks or insurance companies? So confused! Read where its a good idea to have a bank in the state where you domicle. Info please! Thanks Tara
  • TenOC's avatar
    TenOC
    Nomad
    Aug 10, 2018
    1. I have keep my credit union account in OH for 10 years of FT. All my "banking" is by internet or auto-drafting.

    2. I do have a Bank of America account that I open before I started to FT only in case I need to ever walk into a real bank.

    3. I also use Fidelity's (where I have a small mutual fund account) Cash management to pay bills online out of my "savings" account.

    Most important once you FT I have found that if you do any "banking" type activity like open a new account. It is best to leave the PMB # off you address since a number of financial transactions are required to check that your address is a real address. Thanks to 9/11. If you leave the PMB off or replace the PMB with Apartment # all works ok. Once you open the new account you can then add the PMB number.
  • 2chiefsRus's avatar
    2chiefsRus
    Explorer
    Aug 10, 2018
    caysea7254 wrote:
    So what does everyone do for their bank? We are going to domicle in South Dakota, so do we get a bank in that state or is it ok to go with USAA? Im not sure what all we will need when we want to establish residency in South Dakota.


    I would start by finding out the answer to what information you will need to domicile in South Dakota.

    We already had a mail forwarding service set up before our house sold because we were on a three month trip in our rv when our house went under contract. We came home and cleared out the rest of our stuff and stayed until the closing and then hit the road again. Our mail was already forwarded from the house address to our mail forwarding address so it was just a matter of contacting everyone we received mail from and changing our address to our new address provided by the service. If you haven't done so already, I would highly suggest setting up as much stuff as possible as paperless online. Try to stop as much hard copy US Mail as possible.
  • NMDriver2's avatar
    NMDriver2
    Explorer
    Aug 10, 2018
    Use a bank with nation wide free ATM's and on-line banking. We use Bank of America but only go in the building if we need a cashiers check or to withdraw more money than the ATM will allow. The branch where our paychecks go to is in CA but we live in NM and travel world wide for months at a time. No need for a local bank unless you just like visiting with the tellers.
  • wildtoad's avatar
    wildtoad
    Explorer II
    Aug 10, 2018
    As far as banking is concerned just make sure they have a nationwide presence, online access to ALL your accounts, you switch all your statements and correspondence to electronic. We don’t and never will fulltime but want anytime anywhere access to banking services. If you don’t already, and you take maintenance drugs you should switch to a nationwide pharmacy as you can get your drugs anywhere. Doesn’t work for controlled ones though.

    I have heard that full timers without a permanent address can run into issues getting insurance, loans, other items. Not their doing.
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Aug 10, 2018
    It is hard to know without some experience under your belt. Everyone speaks from the point of view of their needs, and sometimes that just consists of their personal comfort factor and what-ifs.

    Advice on these boards tends to lean toward the unrealistically negative, focusing more on what's possible rather than probable.

    Doing everything online is my #1 piece of advice. That, of course, requires you have a good mobile provider.
  • caysea7254's avatar
    caysea7254
    Explorer
    Aug 10, 2018
    nope never step a foot in the bank we have now. Do everything on line. USAA is our choice but I read so many different forums and don't even remember which one I was on but said something about banking in state you domicile in. I know I shouldn't believe everything I read but good grief how does a person know what to believe! LOL
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Aug 10, 2018
    I don't think it matters a hoot where your bank is, unless you're fond of going into banks.
  • caysea7254's avatar
    caysea7254
    Explorer
    Aug 10, 2018
    We have never lived in another state or town! We grew up in this small town, went to same schools, got married, raised our family in this town so all of this is very new and that is why its alittle overwhelming. Thought I would explain why I'm all over the place! LOL

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