Community Forums

RonandBee · 04-01-2015, 11:39 PM

Okay, so we are just about ready to put our house on the market and hopefully purchasing our coach and being on the road full-time by the end of summer. We currently live in NV and have looked at changing domiciles to either SD, TX or FL. After looking at the taxes, registration, etc, it looks like SD is our best option. By purchasing our coach as SD residents in-lieu-of NV residents we would save over $20K in sales tax and registration alone. NV registration would be $6000 on a brand new coach, and $4000-5000 on a year or two used coach. So to the health insurance. We have Blue Cross/Shield and have been with them since 1989. We are both retired and in our early 50's, so no Medicare. After much research it appears BC/BS does not cover full-timers who domicile in SD.

We also looked at FL and TX, but there isn't much of a tax incentive for us, however registration fees and health insurance would work.

So, I guess my question is, are there any full-timers out there who domicile in SD who could give us some input on health insurance? I'd really hate to stay a NV resident and have to dish out all of the money that I could save somewhere else. Between researching what coach we want, which we did narrow down, to everything else full-time related, my brain is really starting to hurt!

Sorry it was such a long post, and thanks in advance for the expert advice!

Njtroy · 04-02-2015, 12:17 AM

Unfortunately, the current opinion on SD is that if you are pre-Medicare, the SD healthcare options just won't work for a full timer. Most folks are going to FL or TX. Wish I could tell you something different.

Barbaraok · 04-02-2015, 12:21 AM

Why are you not looking at Texas?

Barb

wa8yxm · 04-02-2015, 05:26 AM

South Dakota opted out of the Affordable Care Act. I will not go into why.

But the result is that they are down to like ONE provider who will help you... You need to get health insurance somewhere else and keep it if you can.

JRPA · 04-02-2015, 09:30 AM

You mentioned possibly purchasing a used coach. In Nevada you don't pay sales tax on a private sale. If the price is right you might consider purchasing from an individual, purchase extended warranty and still be money ahead.

RonandBee · 04-02-2015, 10:42 AM

After looking at numbers again it looks like TX would be a good option too. The sales tax in my area of NV is 8.1% and in TX it's 6.25%, not including local taxes wherever in TX we would register. If I saw it correctly it would be about $600 to register the coach in TX compared to $6000 in NV. So roughly a $10-11K savings by going to TX. Is there one place in particular that most full-timers set up their TX domiciles, such as county, town, etc? At least I know the insurance shouldn't be an issue.

nothermark · 04-02-2015, 10:52 AM

In Texas I'd check with wherever Escapee's is located. Even if you do not want to join them it sounds like the area is very RV friendly. ;-)

moldmkr · 04-02-2015, 10:58 AM

We are full timers registered in SD. We kept our BC BS insurance we had in Iowa (where we lived before we went full time). We have not had a problem using it along the way on our travels.

Barbaraok · 04-02-2015, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nothermark

In Texas I'd check with wherever Escapee's is located. Even if you do not want to join them it sounds like the area is very RV friendly. ;-)

In order to get the Livingston, TX address for your mail forwarding (and to 'garage' the vehicles) one joins Escapees. And since it is $30/yr to join, seems like a no brainer to me.

Quote:

Is there one place in particular that most full-timers set up their TX domiciles, such as county, town, etc? At least I know the insurance shouldn't be an issue.

Escapees is located in Livingston, TX which is POLK county. Everyone in the area knows about Escapees and fulltiming, so it is very easy to set up your new domicile, get your mail address, register vehicles, get DLs, register to vote, etc.

Barb

Barbaraok · 04-02-2015, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moldmkr

We are full timers registered in SD. We kept our BC BS insurance we had in Iowa (where we lived before we went full time). We have not had a problem using it along the way on our travels.

Is this a policy that you have through a former Employer? I have never heard of being able to get an individual policy in one state while being legally domiciled in another state?

moldmkr · 04-02-2015, 11:16 AM

This is a policy we bought when we still lived in Iowa and we have been able to keep it, even though we are SD residents. No it was not a company policy. We were self employed before we went full time.

Selah · 04-02-2015, 11:21 AM

Florida sales tax is 6% and there registration fees are very very reasonable. No state income tax and since RV and autos are not considered real property there would be no property tax as well.
Not trying to push FL but do check out each of the big three to see which fits best.

Jim2 · 04-02-2015, 02:22 PM

You may not have had an issue yet, and that may continue. But if you never notified BCBS that you "moved" to a new state, you are technically in violation of the policy terms and could be denied coverage, assuming this is a private individual policy.
BCBS of SD (Wellmark) refuses to insure SD fulltimers who can't show property tax, rent, utility receipts showing that you actually live in SD for 6 months each year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moldmkr

We are full timers registered in SD. We kept our BC BS insurance we had in Iowa (where we lived before we went full time). We have not had a problem using it along the way on our travels.

RonandBee · 04-02-2015, 09:23 PM

Well it looks like the sales tax in Livingston, TX, Polk county is actually higher than it is here in NV. So on a new coach I would be paying more in sales tax, but MUCH less for registration. *sigh* I know we could buy used from a private seller and not have to pay the sales tax here in NV, but then we still have to pay several thousands for registration. *heavy sigh* I guess it's time to dig deeper into the FL domicile and see what happens. We used to live in FL many, many years ago and really didn't have any intentions of going back, at least not anywhere in the near future, but that may be changing. Back to square one. Hahaha

Ron and Marybeth