Dates, Deadlines, and Dreams

Many of you who know me, know that I am counting down the days to retirement. I'm so focused on things related to RV living, information, and retirement finances that I have a countdown app on my iPhone. Most people would have the one significant date they're keeping track of on the app; me - I have two dates. The furthest one out is, of course, the date of Barbara's and my last day of work, and first day of retirement living (September 2, 2019). The closest one is another significant date: the day we order our 2020 Tiffin Open Road 36LA to be built. I'm noting this occasion because we're just under 1 year (11 months and 23 days - thanks for asking!) away from that life-altering event.

You see, it takes about 14 weeks from the day to get your Tiffin ordered, confirmed, scheduled, built and delivered to your dealership, so you've got to plan ahead. We could always take the chance that another 36LA might be available on a lot somewhere on September 3rd of 2019, but since we're going to be full-timing, we want ours a bit customized in color and configuration, so ordering is the way to go.

A year away from a pretty big event. For me it's exciting and pretty cool, but it's also a bit daunting.

The order date also triggers another task to easier full-time RV-ing, which is establishing a legal residence in a state which is both retiree and RV friendly, so that no taxes have to be overpaid and that no state gets revenue it doesn't deserve.

We've researched three different states that are full-time RV friendly; Texas, Florida, and South Dakota. Many of you reading this are saying "South Dakota?!?!?!" Yeah, South Dakota. And they're actually our state of choice. All three states have no income taxes; key for retirement, but especially for residents who don't actually reside in the state. Registration fees for vehicles (and we'll have one big, honkin' vehicle) are a fraction of many other states, and they have little or no inspection requirements that might drag you back at a certain place and time each year.

We're choosing South Dakota, mainly because they have the smallest infrastructure to support, which means they'll be less likely to pass legislation to grab more of our money. So right before swinging by our dealership to order our Tiffin, Barbara and I will be motoring north and westward to the great state of South Dakota to become residents. Takes a day. Stay a night, bring your receipt for your hotel to one of the many mailbox providers in-state to fill out the paperwork, bring those to the local DMV, and get your license and registration.

But this week was another significant date. We signed the last lease we'll ever sign on the apartment we're living in.

Finally, while Barbara and I were discussing our upcoming trip to Massachusetts this coming June, we were looking ahead to the date for this year's Hershey RV show, as this will be the date we'll use to plan our September trip up north, just as we did last year. It dawned on us that we'll be less than a year away from full-time RV-ing retirement while we're perusing new coaches in Hershey this year.

One one hand, it seems as if this whole thing is taking forever, but on the other hand it seems like it is careening towards us like an out of control freight train. This is getting very exciting . . .