Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.
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I am looking at full time RVing and am trying to figure out the true cost to doing a domicile in TX or South Dakota or even a state that has taxes. What is the best way to see the true cost of insurance (auto, health, RV) and vehicle taxes ect. Any suggestions on this info out there?
I should also mention that I am about 40 so not retirement age.
Thanks,
EW
-- Edited by EW Simp on Sunday 20th of March 2016 03:30:09 PM
-- Edited by EW Simp on Sunday 20th of March 2016 03:57:48 PM
Well we went with Liberty health Share and it allows any state, same price, any network, any doctor. Took that equation out of picture. The ACA changes with counties inside of states. it is a headache. If you feel you have to have ACA then it is a major problem. We are domiciled in Texas, Walker County. Many are in Polk.
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2003 Teton Grand Freedon 2006 Mobile Suites 32TK3 SOLD 2006 Freightliner Century 120 with Detroit 14L singled, ultrashift, hauling a 2016 Smart Passion
When we did this a few years back, and my info at this point is really old, I set up a spreadsheet with the 4 states we were considering. Input auto insurance, rates for licensing, etc. I called Miller's insurance and within a few days they called me back with insurance rates for each state based upon our rig, I used each state's DMV site to calculate annual licensing fees for us, the truck and the 5th wheel, plus any other tax info such as inspections, wheel taxes (varies based on SD county), frequency of renewals/requirements, etc.
Once it's all in one place, it's each to add rows or columns to add notes, make comparisons, etc.
I took my corporate job on the road so my insurance wasn't changing, therefore, that wasn't in the equation for us at that time.
Eddie, you made me laugh, planning anything without a spreadsheet?? Nope, that's never going to happen, at least not for me. How else do I keep track of my work/travel schedule, hubby's art show schedule, plan A, B and C?
Maybe when we retire I can forget about using a spreadsheet for planning and comparing options, but for now it's one of my favorite tools to make the logistics planning easier☺
I made a spreadsheet too and then when I got closer to the actual date had to do tons of updates, because things change so quickly. One of the big gotchas for us was because we bought our RV in a no tax state, if we went to South Dakota we would need to pay a one time 3 percent tax. This didn't come up in my research I guess because so few people live in tax free states. So make sure you look not only at the states you are thinking about going to but also where you are coming from, because that does matter. I think the best advice I got was to get on the phone with the mail forwarding services, the DMV's, and registrars and ask them questions directly. After that exercise, I really felt I had the most accurate and up to date information to make my choice.
As a side note we picked Florida and as of yet I don't regret it, but there is something to be said for just staying with your current home state (if you can work out mail and address) and not going through the whole rigamorole.
