Ready to Live on the Road and Excited

[Donna_Jean]

Hello All, I just joined today so I am a newbie, I look forward to getting to know all there is to RV'ing. My husband and I are planning to retire in the spring, sell our house and buy a used 40+ Class A and live it in for at least 6 months or maybe longer. We are active and want to spend a lot of time out west in the national parks, hiking, biking and so forth. We live in MI now and plan to settle down in TN after spending time on the road. My big question is for those of you that have or lived in an RV without a residence how do you handle state residency. When we sell our house we will never live in MI again so i don't know what to do about things like drivers lic. taxes, voters registration, and so forth. I know we have over 6 months to figure this out but LOL i can't sleep at night trying to think how it all will work.

[wanderingaimles]

Choice of home state for domicile is more than just the health insurance. State income taxes, health insurances, vehicle plates and insurances, Vehicle/personal property taxes all come into play.
If you have spent a lifetime in one state, there are many differences you may not realize. Some states don't tax you for breathing, others do.
"Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming have no income tax – for any residents.Feb 25, 2019" also some dont require you to return annually for a vehicle inspection, South Dakota for example.
Escapees
Look closely at the Domicile page for mail and residency info. And you dont have to use them, there are other mail services, But I point to them rather than trying to reinvent the wheel on covering the reasons and means.

[Cloud_Dancer]

By all means, learn as much as you want from Escapees.

[ependydad]

Here's an article that covers that and more:
https://learntorv.com/fulltime-rving/

[Donna_Jean]

thanks for the help and posting the link to the full time section, i looked around at first and somehow did not see that forum. we are not on medicare yet, but i will be shortly after we start. I assume Medicare is nation wide and our supplemental with be through General Motors so that should be OK. I have a lot to learn but i am thinking the easiest would be to keep our MI info and see if we could use a friends address for something physical.

[Old-Biscuit]

Check out the info in the FULL TIME RV section of this forum

Just click on the link and read read read.

AGE and Medical COverage are 2 Key Issues.

SD, TX and FL were favorite states for FTrs to declare 'Domicile' for residency.
Over time.......SD & TX are not as friendly IF you are under 65/Not on Medicare due to lack of Nationwide Medical COverage

FL was still one state that HAD Nationwide.....could have changed since I last checked.

IF on Medicare.......pick a state to declare as 'domicile' and set up residency
Mail forwarding companys are easiest method due to being registered with USPS as certified mail handlers
But some companies/insitiutes reject those addresses

Escapees is a long established Mail Forwarding Company plus have been thru the legaility issues
Originially in Lvingston TX but have explanded to SD and FL

In todays environment (Patriot Act/Enhamced Drivers Licenses etc) Escapees would be first place I start my research with for FTng

Escapees

[CA_Traveler]

BTW For 6 months your best option might be to remain with MI while you decide your future.

[CA_Traveler]

There are many posts on this subject. Start searching including other forums and there are many options. Basically it's like moving to another state except you might have to periodically return to your state for whatever like DL, health coverage, etc. Many FTers use a mail delivery service. One popular choice is the TX Escapees.

Whatever state you select involves much more than you've posted. You'll get lots of opinions and while you're awake do your online research.