Things to consider when choosing a state of residency

[enginewitty]

What would you consider?

I'm in California now but do not plan on staying here. I mostly plan on just traveling around The Western US and hopefully up through Alaska & Canada.

 

[ccbreder]

The first consideration is "permanent" address for such things as drivers license and passport. Best would be family or friends that will accept your mail and provide you a "residence". Next would be mail forwarding service. That limits you to states that except that service as your residence. Most don't.
Second is the actual costs of the state you chose. Insurance, tags, other vehicle taxes and fees. If you have a large income, that tax could be a factor. there are other costs between one state and another to investigate. as example, my medicare supplement can cost much more, depending on my address. Some states make gun ownership easier than others if you want legal firearms. There are other things that will be listed as this thread grows.

 

[Vanholio]

What would you consider?

I'm in California now but do not plan on staying here. I mostly plan on just traveling around The Western US and hopefully up through Alaska & Canada.

There's a comprehensive article on the blog about this not too far back, maybe a month at most.

Besides all the money things, I'd consider being able to travel to your adopted state for medical care, depending on your insurance. My insurance, through healthcare.gov, only pays for emergency care out of state. Most of the plans do that. So I'm moving my residency to New Mexico because I see it as the central point in my likely normal nomadic route between Texas and the Four Corners states. New Mexico has a state income tax (though I'm so broke it hardly matters), but the location is perfect for me. The rest of the NM costs are pretty low.

 

[ToddandHeather]

What would you consider?

Taxes, Vehicle Registration Costs, Insurance (Vehicle and Medical) Costs, Residency Requirements.

For us, South Dakota fit the bill perfectly. No State Income Tax. Low Vehicle Registration Fees. Simple Mail forwarding. And one needs to stay only ONE Night in the state to satisfy the DMV and obtain a Drivers License.

 

[enginewitty]

Taxes, Vehicle Registration Costs, Insurance (Vehicle and Medical) Costs, Residency Requirements.

For us, South Dakota fit the bill perfectly. No State Income Tax. Low Vehicle Registration Fees. Simple Mail forwarding. And one needs to stay only ONE Night in the state to satisfy the DMV and obtain a Drivers License.

WOW! maybe I'll skip AZ and register my van in SD.
This is what I was looking for
\Thanks

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Will you be needing health insurance?  Did you see Bob's Blog Posts on this subject?

http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/page/14/

http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/page/13/

http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/page/11/

http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/page/10/

 

[DannyB1954]

Bob did a video and article discussing this topic. It is worth watching. You will sometimes have to go back to whatever State that you claim. Jury duty, health care, registration of vehicles if they don't do it through the mail. You have to look at the total tax picture. Some States may not have one kind of tax, but they may make up for that with high taxes in other areas like sales or property taxes.


http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/h...al-residence-address-real-id-drivers-license/

 

[enginewitty]

There's a comprehensive article on the blog about this not too far back, maybe a month at most.

Besides all the money things, I'd consider being able to travel to your adopted state for medical care, depending on your insurance. My insurance, through healthcare.gov, only pays for emergency care out of state. Most of the plans do that. So I'm moving my residency to New Mexico because I see it as the central point in my likely normal nomadic route between Texas and the Four Corners states. New Mexico has a state income tax (though I'm so broke it hardly matters), but the location is perfect for me. The rest of the NM costs are pretty low.

maybe Im retarded and dont know how to look up stuff on the blog correctly but I only get one article to pop up at once, and they appear to be at random. for example, if I type in "budget", one article with the word "budget" in it will come up.  is this normal?? if so, somebody needs to get on restructuring the search criteria. it seems like theres a ton of valuable information on here. I'm just unsure exactly how to access it without knowing the exact title of the article I'm looking for....

 

[mayble]

maybe Im retarded and dont know how to look up stuff on the blog correctly but I only get one article to pop up at once, and they appear to be at random. for example, if I type in "budget", one article with the word "budget" in it will come up.  is this normal?? if so, somebody needs to get on restructuring the search criteria. it seems like theres a ton of valuable information on here. I'm just unsure exactly how to access it without knowing the exact title of the article I'm looking for....

Hit the "Older Posts" link on the bottom left of the article preview and you can scroll through other articles on the same topic.  Same with the "Categories" list on the right side of the page.
It's a bit awkward, but it works.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

 . . . dont know how to look up stuff on the blog correctly

I actually posted links to what you need in Post #6 . . .

OK, I just tried them and something clearly went wrong with what I posted.

I'll try again in a minute in anther post.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

OK, you want the blog posts from My 15, May 20, May 30, and June 5, all this year, in that order.

Lets try again:

http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/page/17/

http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/page/16/

http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/page/14/

http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/page/13/

Something is definitely screwy.  Why would the page number be counting DOWN as we get further into the year?

Anyway, if these don't work, find those dates.