The nomad lifestyle

The Nomad Lifestyle Part 1: Picking your residency wisely

For as many years as I can remember I dreamed of living a Nomad lifestyle. Working my 6 day a week life as a Sales Manager, I cherished the 3-day holiday weekends and 2-week vacations so I could pack up the essentials and head out to the great unknown.

As time went by, money started getting tight so my wife and I took on extra jobs, she working part time from our home as a graphic designer and me as a private marketing and sales consultants. I had a handful of clients who appreciated the 30 plus years of experience we brought to the table, and were willing to pay us handsomely for our expertise.

Life was good, but I still wasn’t satisfied, even with all the big screen TV’s, toys, electronics and such, I was feeling incomplete. Then one night my wife and I sat down on the couch and started to talk about our life. That’s when it hit us both, we were existing but not really living.

It was and still is all about the escape. Be it camping, touring, traveling to foreign countries or just running away out of state to see friends and relatives, the euphoria of being free is addictive. So much so, that 5 years ago I quit my full-time job, sold our house, bought a slightly used RV and sold off most of our furniture and belongings. Other than photos and mementos, what we didn’t absolutely need we didn’t keep. We packed our precious items into a small temperature controlled storage unit and headed off into the great unknown.

Although we had managed to save a bit of cash over the years including a few dollars from the sale of our home, just to be safe we decided to keep our part time businesses just to keep a consistent money stream. You never know when you will need some extra spending cash. The beauty of owning our own businesses is that we could operate from virtually anywhere we could get Wi-Fi connection or cell phone service, even outside the USA. We also had to decide where we would establish our new residence as Nomads.

We wanted to go with a state that offered the best tax benefits as well as being RV friendly.

Since we planned to be on the road most of the time and not in state, the choice became very obvious – South Dakota.

While it's true that South Dakota, Florida and Texas have no State income taxes, it's the other benefits that explain why South Dakota beats out all other states. For example, Florida is almost the highest state in the country for vehicle insurance. Texas while not as high is still pricey.

South Dakota is consistently one of the least expensive States for vehicle insurance.

Besides no State income tax, South Dakota has no personal property taxes, no state inheritance tax, no vehicle inspections and when a vehicle is purchased anywhere in the country and registered in South Dakota; the tax collected is only 4%. In fact, if the vehicle had already been purchased and the client has paid 4% or more in state tax to their home state, South Dakota won't charge any additional taxes at all. Unlike many other states, a person does NOT need a South Dakota driver’s license to obtain South Dakota license plates. This can be done long distance.

Now that we did our homework on the State to set up our Nomad residence, we needed to decide with who. There was a lot of material to be found online along with numerous companies offering to assist in setting up South Dakota residency. It was getting a bit overwhelming so we decided to make up our mind the old fashion way – we asked other RV owners and Nomads for their advice and recommendations. We talked with dozens of couples and most of the response was positive and helpful. It seemed that a majority kept saying the same thing; “It’s very easy and affordable and we should start off with the membership with Americas Mailbox.” So, after going through the Americas Mailbox website we decided to give them a call. Looking back, it was the best call we could have made.

Americas Mailbox was conceived by Don and Barb Humes due to an obvious need for both a reliable and professional mail forwarding company in South Dakota for anybody that travels, both within and outside of the United States. While there were a small number of other mail forwarding companies in existence before Americas Mailbox was founded, none of them offered the service that consumers needed at a fair or reasonable price. Americas Mailbox was going to be different. It would be based on two founding principles - The Golden Rule and Common Sense.

Americas Mailbox provides its clients many benefits outside of what a normal mail forwarding company would offer including mail scanning and forwarding client’s mail anywhere they travel, insuring them a safe and reliable location to receive, store and ship mail as requested. In addition, Americas Mailbox saves its members literally tens of thousands of dollars in taxes and other fees from their current state. Don and Barb were determined to completely meet the needs of consumers at a fair price.

When you set up an account with Americas Mailbox it gives you the opportunity to establish residency in South Dakota. It doesn't matter if you own a house or a business there, unlike many other mail forwarding companies in other states. One of the easy requirements for it members to obtain a driver's license (a main proof of residency) is to spend at least one night at a hotel, motel or campground anywhere in the state and besides Americas Mailbox, Don and Barb own a fully licensed hotel and campground right there on premises.

For members that wish to register their vehicles in South Dakota to take advantage of the low rates, unlike many other states, a person does NOT need a South Dakota driver's license prior to obtaining license plates. Since South Dakota doesn't require any inspections or Proof of Insurance, the staff at Americas Mailbox can obtain license plates for it members remotely and then send them anywhere instructed. The company’s staff currently handles thousands of vehicles registrations annually.

There are many more benefits to choosing Americas Mailbox and you can learn more by visiting them online at www.americasmailbox.com, or give them a call – (605) 718-1234. They will be more than happy to assist you. You never know, you might get to speak with the owners personally. In the end, I think you will agree - it is the best call you ever made.

One thing is certain, the Nomad craze is indeed growing and there is no sign that it is slowing down. It will continue for years as people realize that the Nomadic lifestyle is one that allows people with digital or telecommuting skills to live affordably, save money in taxes and fees, see the world at their leisure and in short, enjoy their life to the fullest.