parisroady wrote: If you replace your vehicle, then Tx charges sales tax I think it is 6.25% now. I believe SD is 3% as is NM.
That's only if the vehicle has not been registered before. If you currently have tags, then it is a $90 one time fee plus the normal yearly registration.
Barb
Barb & Dave - full-timing Traveling catpanions Kit (age 18) and Shadow (age 11) Figment II (2002 Alpine 36 MDDS) Mischief (2004 Subaru Forester Toad) FMCA - F337834, SKP #90761 http://homepage.mac.com/barbaraok/ Our blog
I am just coming up on the Medicare eligibility age (I guess this is a good thing...) But I have lots of questions. Our full-timing address is Livingston and we love it. Our retirement health insurance is Anthem BC out of Virginia, with the home address in Texas. We've had no problems ever with insurance coverage anywhere. But, the Medicare Gap stuff raises questions. Is the HR dept. at the old job the only one that can answer them? This might not be a "friendly" voice. I'd like to have answers before I ask the questions, y'know? Does my Medicare Gap have to be a Virginia plan??? Or a Texas plan??? Does anyone know? Eventually I'm going to have to make the call, I know. Thanks for any input. Beth
Chris_P wrote: I am just coming up on the Medicare eligibility age (I guess this is a good thing...) But I have lots of questions. Our full-timing address is Livingston and we love it. Our retirement health insurance is Anthem BC out of Virginia, with the home address in Texas. We've had no problems ever with insurance coverage anywhere. But, the Medicare Gap stuff raises questions. Is the HR dept. at the old job the only one that can answer them? This might not be a "friendly" voice. I'd like to have answers before I ask the questions, y'know? Does my Medicare Gap have to be a Virginia plan??? Or a Texas plan??? Does anyone know? Eventually I'm going to have to make the call, I know. Thanks for any input. Beth
First, you need to know exactly what you are talking about. Are you talking about using Part A and Part B and getting a medicare supplement plan to cover things not covered in A&B (might or might not include part D) or are you talking about Part C, where some company will follow Medicare guidelines and act as a substitute - - usually those are HMOs, but not always.
I would assume that once you turn 65, you're current health insurance becomes the supplemental - but that all depends upon the plan that you received when you retired. Is there some reason that the people at the old HR department would be hostile towards you? We always get a warm greeting and questions about where we are, etc., and then they take care of the problem very quickly. Of course, except for one small problem, we haven't had any with our retirement plans/funds, so we may be just very lucky. Our current health insurance (BC-BS in Texas) will become our supplemental when we turn 65 and cover (within guidelines) everything that Medicare doesn't.
Hello Chris P
My husband's medicare gap is with BC-BS of Tennessee - we have relocated to several states since taking out with them and it just goes with us.
We have been Texas home-owner since April '06 and still have same for his gap - as to the prescription coverage we picked that up through BC-BS Texas on our own, though we feel it is a bit pricey when totaling out meds without it comes out to be good deal. My health coverage is with Golden Rule and it can go anywhere too.
Texas has a lot to offer, property taxes vary by county as with anywhere, insurance and auto registration was our main reason. We are in the center of the state, climate is moderate year round, we can get out of state in 1/2 a day 'o)
Last year when we ordered/paid for our new MH all I had to do was take the receipts and original title stuff to auto registration and got all done with tags in hand - Once we came back home with coach we had 3 days to get the safety inspection and that was real easy, just took to our rv service shop.
As to sales tax on auto - I'll gladly pay the 6.25% here knowing I don't have to pay state income tax or deal with winter blizzard weather - yea I know several other states don't have income tax, I've checked them all out and for us right now Texas is best choice for our home base.
You have to gather all the info that effects you from each state and compare it to see just where is best for you to set up home base from - only way to know your doing the right thing - there is no easy way to do it and what is good for one might not be good for you.
Virginia and Jim
Ms. Cricket, our Chihuahua
Starr n Midnight Roadie
'07 Red 26.5RB Lazy Daze
'07 Black Matrix
http://travelingstarr.blogspot.com/
Thanks to all for the answers and input. You were all correct. I finally called and talked to the HR people (and yes, there were reasons for hostility, but apparently years have softened the attitudes). There will be no changes, Medicare becomes primary, company insurance secondary. No fuss, no bother, apparently. I like this.
1. You will be hollier than thou at most parks when they find out you are a Texan (Sorry yanks, but its true)
2. You will suddenly fill with pride when you become one
3. You are one of the friendliest people on earth
4. Your respect for others will become immensely deeper
5. You will be reconized as one of "God's chosen"
6. You will be from the land of Milk and Honey
7. You will continue to pray that Okla keeps sucking so we dont fall in the gulf
8. You will learn to hate the Dixie Chicks
9. You will accept "Bury me in Texas" as your theme song
10. You will know why Texans hate UHaul one way rentals.
I would list the other 10,932847945174854510427 reaason, but Im out of bandwith.
Hookem wrote: Annual vehicle inspections IF you drive into Texas annually. My truck was last inspected in Texas 2 years ago and it might be 2 more before I cross the Texas border again. As a full time SKP out of Livingston I can not think of any downside to being a SKP Texan. Been one for six years now and may have spent a total of 3 weeks in Texas in all that time.
Hookem wrote: Annual vehicle inspections IF you drive into Texas annually. My truck was last inspected in Texas 2 years ago and it might be 2 more before I cross the Texas border again. As a full time SKP out of Livingston I can not think of any downside to being a SKP Texan. Been one for six years now and may have spent a total of 3 weeks in Texas in all that time.
Who alerts them that you have crossed into Texas?
I'm about a week away from deciding and I'm leaning towards Texas.
Same reason as others that I would most likely spend more time there then in SD and basically I don't want to travel all the way to SD to just set up the domicle, when my plans are mostly to travel the south.
I live in a state that has emmission inspections and it's no big deal, unless you own a old rattle trap without the computer on board. Computer testing is a breeze and eliminates a lot of didn't pass results doing it the old way. The way new cars are built today no one should be leary of emmissions testing. Heck my used toad I just bought passed with flying colors!
31 ft Four Winds
Chevy Tracker 4x4 BlueOx Aventa LX We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
WTTCS wrote: 9. You will accept "Bury me in Texas" as your theme song
How about, "Somewhere Between the Red and the Rio Grande"?
jr (from Dallas)
Hope to see you on the road.Believe it or not! Time Well Wasted
2004.5 Dodge 3500 CTD SRW SWB QC 4X4 SixSpeed 3.73 Laramie Jacobs EB BrakeSmart
2005 Alpenlite Versailles 32RL PullRite SuperSlider RV PowerTank
Class of '05 Quartzsite Survivor
Hookem wrote: Annual vehicle inspections IF you drive into Texas annually. My truck was last inspected in Texas 2 years ago and it might be 2 more before I cross the Texas border again. As a full time SKP out of Livingston I can not think of any downside to being a SKP Texan. Been one for six years now and may have spent a total of 3 weeks in Texas in all that time.
Who alerts them that you have crossed into Texas?
I'm about a week away from deciding and I'm leaning towards Texas.
Same reason as others that I would most likely spend more time there then in SD and basically I don't want to travel all the way to SD to just set up the domicle, when my plans are mostly to travel the south.
I live in a state that has emmission inspections and it's no big deal, unless you own a old rattle trap without the computer on board. Computer testing is a breeze and eliminates a lot of didn't pass results doing it the old way. The way new cars are built today no one should be leary of emmissions testing. Heck my used toad I just bought passed with flying colors!
No one alerts them, it is just that if you should get stopped for some reason, you need to show that you have only been in the state a couple of days and are on your way to getting the inspection done. The reason people get inspected in Livingston (or some other town away from the big metros) isn't really about the emissions testing, but that it costs more to have the emission testing done - plus the hassle with a big rig in a big town.
Barb is right in the fact that alarms don't go off when you cross the border. You do, however have a sticker in the front window that shows (in 1 1/4" numbers) when your registration and inspection expire by month and year. It's quite easy for any LEO to see it at most speeds less than 45 MPH. Vehicle inspections and the requirements are handled by the county that you live in. In livingston, we live in Polk County, which is considered a rural county. As a rural county, the emissions requirements are much less strenuous than they are in an urban area. The inspection process is actually more of a safety check than anything else. We can get our two vehicles inspected in less than twenty minutes for less than $30.00. If you were to go to an urban area, like Houston, Dallas, Austin. etc. an emission check is require for people living in all counties surrounding the metro areas. We could drive 20 minutes south of Livingston, out of Polk County and into Montgomery or any of the other counties surrounding Houston and our vehicles would be inspected for emissions and all other types of metro area requirements.
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