Forum Discussion

brodon's avatar
brodon
Explorer
Aug 24, 2016

Full time soon / advice needed

We plan to go full time with our MH in Feb 2017. We plan to rent our home in Fl. Not sure when we plan to move back into home or even if we will. For now we need advice about mail, driver license, banks. Just read "Motorhome & RV Retirement Living", by Jerry Minchey. Gave me some good advice on many issues. Just not sure about mail and driver license. Have most bills sent email and pay online. Any help will be welcome. We are excited about full timing.

6 Replies

  • First things first, Kemo Sabe.

    Do you want to keep Florida as you domicile state? If yes, then all you'll need is a mail forwarding service.

    Since you'll be full timing, you can pick and choose your domicile State. We chose South Dakota because of their sales tax, 4% and no State income tax. Choose your domicile state wisely depending on your personal situation. Be sure to consider Medicare/Medical benefits as well. Also take into consideration insurance. You'll need full timers insurance which basically is your auto insurance and homeowner's insurance rolled into one. Considerably more expensive than just auto insurance. Once you've chosen a domicile state, select a mail forwarding service in that state and transfer all your 'stuff' to that address. i.e. bank statements, voter registration, auto registration, driver's licenses etc. I used the IRS guidelines which is what most states use to determine if you're "intent" is to make a certain state your domicile state. This avoids any confusion or misunderstandings if the tax man knocks on your door. You DO NOT have to own property in your domicile state but you CAN own property in other states.....Dennis
  • On mail, start calling all of the people that send you junk catalogs and other junk mail and ask to be taken off of their mailing lists. If there's no phone numbers on the junk mail, just Google their name XXX customer service and you'll almost always find them.

    A lot of junk mail and catalogs are printed 4 - 6 months in advance and then delivered to the post office palletized with each piece in zip code sequence so the post office doesn't have to do any sorting, just ship them to the correct post office already in sequence for the delivering postal carrier. So get started on canceling the junk now.

    Get everything else you can sent electronically that you can and you'll find that you really will have very little mail to deal with.

    Bill
  • If you already live in Florida, you already have a driver's license and I assume a bank. Set the bank account up to pay online, get a mail forwarder somewhere close, Escapee's has one there as well as many others. Try to get all the bills you have online and cut your mail down as low as you can, and go. Then have the mail forwarder send your accumulated mail when you want to where you want. You've already established residency in one of the best states for full timers.
  • Have you ever thought about looking into what the Escapees RV Club can offer. www.Escapees.com I went full-time last year and these are the people I went with. Check them out for yourself.
  • Find a mail forewording service locally. There should be lots on FL as a lot of full timers register there. The level of service they offer varies, so figure out what your needs are and pick one that matches tour needs. Start now getting rid of stuff. Storage, while an option can get expensive in a hurry.
  • I use a private mail service in my home state of AZ.
    She gives me a regular street address and sends my mail in priority mail box once a month as I request to wherever I happen to be.

    Call me if you wish.