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Yes, the post office has that service for businesses who print on their envelopes in the return address section on the upper left, "return address service requested" or something to that effect. What that means is that any information on the yellow label affixed to a letter (a forwarding sticker) gets communicated back to the company who sent it, whether you want them to have your new address or not. There is no way to opt out. It's one way the PO makes $$ (charging companies for that service).
I had the exact same thing with that finance company that hassled me for 15 years; they kept sending letters each time I moved: "The PO notified them of an address change." It took years and threats to get a lawyer to make it stop.
One thing to check on with your financial company is whether your accounts were "inactivated" or "closed." I learned that there is a huge difference.
Financial companies want to keep your info in their databases as "inactive" even with zero balances, "in case you change your mind." I kept calling and telling the company in my case that I was never going to change my mind, and I wanted to close my account. It took years, literally. That's the reason they keep sending the statement information with zero balances, the accounts aren't closed, they're inactive. It's a huge headache, and reps kept telling me each time I got a letter with the change of address notice, that my accounts were closed, when they weren't. They were only inactive. After I threatened legal action, the accounts were closed and I haven't heard from them in 4 years.
Some of these financial companies are worse than telecoms for customer service.......if that's possible.
It's awful, quite honestly, and should be illegal.
I had another situation, not with the address or post office, but talking about telecoms.......I had an old ipad that I wanted to remove from my cellular account. Guess what? I couldn't do it at the store. They told me I had to call the "retention team" 800#, the only way to remove a device from an account. Can't be done online or in person. How's that for customer service! So, I called, and the person asked me a bunch of questions (way too many), and I kept saying the same thing over and over: "It's an old device. I want it removed."
So, this guy removes it and sends an email confirming the transaction, listing the phone # for the ipad. (Ipads have a cell# when they have cellular service.) I thought this sorry saga was over.
But I was very wrong. I happened to go into my online account a few days before the end of the billing cycle and took a look to be sure the device was coming off at the end of the billing cycle. The account said: the following device and cell# will be disconnected on (billing cycle end date) per your request. It wasn't the ipad. It was the CELL PHONE and cell phone #.
I was livid, needless to say. They were going to disconnect my phone! So, I called the "retention team" once again and the woman had the nerve to say, "Oops, sorry. If the phone had been disconnected, you could have called us, and we would have reinstated the number." I said, "With what phone????? It would have been disconnected!!!" Really unbelievable. I gave her an earful and said that not only was it confirmed initially by the "retention team," but I got an email with the ipad # confirming the disconnection. Her only response was: "Our systems don't always talk to each other." What a load of crapola.
Based on all of these experiences with the financial company and telecoms, I would advise double and triple checking everything, every transaction that involves stopping a service or closing an account. Assume they will screw up and assume they will insist everything has been done correctly, when it hasn't.
I totally get that if the post office forwards something to my new address they notify the sender if requested. Where my situation is different is the only mailings I get from them are a notice of address change after I notify the post office. I’ve moved 3 times since 2015 and only got 3 mailings from them. Just the notice of address change, no statements or anything else.
Added later: just logged on, had zero balance, did online chat with CSR, they said would be closed in a week (wish me luck!)
I pay $10 per month for a private mail box service in Texas. That is my permanent address for all of my financial companies, pension, taxes, etc. It will work for SS because it is not a "PO box", it is a physical privately owned address. I can be anywhere in the USA or elsewhere in the world, and have access to what incoming mail I might get just from a web login. They can hold my mail for me for months or more, or send me whatever I might want them to send. I would guess hundreds of thousands of expats, RV fulltimers, or multi-dwelling owners use these types of services.
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Originally Posted by xz2y
Thanks, I'll check it out. I'm surprised the IRS hasn't caught on to this, since people aren't actually living in Texas. I realize Texas has no state income tax, but perhaps where they are living part of the year does. In any case, as you mention, lots of people are doing it.
Why would the IRS care, as long as you pay your federal taxes? This is an issue for the various states involved to figure out and resolve, if any one of them thinks they are being cheated out of state taxes.
Thanks, I'll check it out. I'm surprised the IRS hasn't caught on to this, since people aren't actually living in Texas. I realize Texas has no state income tax, but perhaps where they are living part of the year does. In any case, as you mention, lots of people are doing it.
It is just my mailing address. I can use any legitimate mailing address I want on federal income taxes, they don't care as long as I pay the federal tax that is due. Same for state income taxes. If I owe Arizona state income tax, I can still use my private mail box address in Texas on the Arizona tax form. They don't care as long as I pay the state income tax that is due. There is nothing illegal about this, and it is not for trying to evade taxes. It is for having a single address in the USA year round, no matter where else you might be living in the world.
Somebody else asked if there are private mail box issues related to credit cards. None whatsoever. The private mail box becomes my only address that my bank account and credit card company know about. They don't care where I might be. If I am in Europe (like now), I submit a vacation alert on-line to them so they know the cards will be used in certain countries. I pay no foreign exchange fees or foreign transaction fees with my credit or debit cards. Choose your cards carefully, because most cards charge for use outside the USA.
Yes, you brought up one of the complications for moving around in retirement: addresses. You have to have a state of residency for tax purposes, and live there at least 180 days in most cases. Moving around a few months here, a few months there, is complicated in terms of maintaining a state address for tax purposes, unless you have one year-round address in one state and just move around but keep that one address for tax purposes, and can document that you lived these for at least 180 days in any given year.
What I've found very annoying with moving around is that some companies "follow you around" with their "return address forwarding" on their business envelopes. What that means is if a letter is forwarded to you at a new address (regardless of whether it's a temporary change or permanent change), the post office will automatically send them your new address, whether you want them to have it or not.
I had a terrible experience with a financial services company back in 1999 when I closed all my accounts and moved the money to a different financial institution. They weren't happy about it, apparently. So, they kept sending me zero balance statements every time I moved (even though the acc'ts were closed in 1999), and I never gave them any new mailing address information. I called and called, was given the run around, was told it was resolved but then wasn't, and finally after I threatened legal action in 2015, they stopped mailing me statements and said they closed the accounts, which was supposed to have happened in 1999. It was really an unbelievable nightmare.
A lot of mail we receive has been transferred to the internet, thankfully, but there are still some USPS mailings we can't escape such as receiving new credit cards, and receiving statements from SSA, for example. I even asked at the SSA office one time if I could just use their website to view my annual SS statement, and they said, "no" it was not possible to opt out of mailings.
SS has to have a physical address at all times for anyone receiving benefits, no PO boxes, according to the rep I talked with at SS recently. So, that becomes another headache when moving around in retirement, unless you have a permanent home address year round. I guess if you move every 6 months, you could change your address each time, but that's a pain as well.
USPS permanent address forwarding changes are good for 12 months. Temporary address forwarding changes are good for 6 months.
I remember sometime back someone in here said that Wyoming is the place to set up residency. You don't actually have to live there at all to register cars and stuff. You don't even have to return to renew. I forget. I hope someone here will speak up.
Like a lot of my full timing friends, we etablished residency in SD. Only takes on day, if I remember right. Got SD licenses, insurance, tags for truck and trailer. We also got a mail forwarding service, so our mail goes to SD and that is all legal. No state income tax, just federal.
The biggest problem we had was the banking system, because of tax laws is not friendly to Rvers. They want a physical address, no PO boxes. So our bank kept our last physical address, and our other investment service used our sons home.
Yes, you brought up one of the complications for moving around in retirement: addresses. You have to have a state of residency for tax purposes, and live there at least 180 days in most cases. Moving around a few months here, a few months there, is complicated in terms of maintaining a state address for tax purposes, unless you have one year-round address in one state and just move around but keep that one address for tax purposes, and can document that you lived these for at least 180 days in any given year.
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There might be a bit of confusion on exactly how and why you need a legal "domicile" in the US. First there is the federal part of the deal. Thanks to the ironically named, "Patriot Act" you need to have a legitimate physical address, somewhere in the 50 states, period. As another poster mentioned this can be Post Office approved CMRA, or commercial mail receiving agency. These are private companies that provide you with a street address, and service your "snail mail" by receiving it, and doing as little as holding and forwarding it to you, to opening, scanning and emailing you the important stuff, per your request. After several years, I just dropped my CRMA address with a great provider in Florida. It proved to be an excellent way to deal with my mail, as I wandered the south during snowbird season. These services provide legal addresses, domiciles and mail service to hundreds of thousands of truckers, seamen, ex-pats, and fulltime RVers, who do not own or rent a "sticks and bricks" dwelling, in a fixed location.
When it comes to the IRS, they could care less if your address is CRMA box in Texas, or a penthouse on Broadway in Manhattan. They want your money, and a place to contact you to get it. Your living arrangements are of zero interest to them.
The states are a whole different story. Texas, Florida and South Dakota are ideal places to have a CRMA address, and they welcome you to do so. First, these states are very low cost, with no state income tax, and low cost vehicle registration and licensing fees. They also recognize the value of a "resident" who is there very little, if at all, which means no real use or wear to their infrastructure or services. The same person also counts when it comes to per capita distribution of federal funds. So, as a "paper resident" you are a positive asset to a state that's smart enough to recognize that fact.
Once you get beyond those three states, it is possible to have an address in other states, with places like UPS stores providing CRMA services. They tend to be less popular, as they may not offer all of the tax and cost advantages.
The reason that people take the time to "prove" that they have been residing of a state for 180+ days a year can be anything from being ill informed, or irrationally concerned, to in some cases, being legitimately proactive to protect themselves from some states that are extremely aggressive, IF they think you are still a legitimate resident and potentially trying to scam them. California is the worst of these, and will hunt to the end of the earth for proof that you moved out of CA., and didn't do so 100% correctly, or are attempting to defraud the state of a single dime.
When it comes to being a 50/50 resident of places like PA/FL (like I am), I have yet to meet anybody who obsessed over documenting their days spent in either place, or heard of anybody that has had an issue from either state government. Many northerners with snowbird homes "move" to Fl. then spend six months+ a year in the north. In my case it would be foolish to claim full Fl. residency, as I pay no state taxes on the vast majority of household income in PA, since retirement income isn't taxed, and vehicle and homeowner's insurance can be exponentially more expensive with a FL. address.
So the bottom line is that, unless you are trying to avoid paying taxes to the high tax state you live in, by claiming you reside elsewhere, you are not required to live anywhere for 180 days a year, or prove anything to anyone. If you still own a home in (or have other provable and significant ties to) a high tax, aggressive collections state like MA. or CA. and you are claiming to be a FL. or TX. resident, just to avoid the expense of your home state, you are playing a whole other game, and it can get expensive when and if you get caught.
Hope that helps, and that I got all my info correct? This is a HOT topic with fulltime RVers, and there are days of time to waste, if you want to do more research online. The "Escapees" RV club is very active in dealing with the subject. They provide CRMA services in several states. for club members. They are very proactive in protecting the rights of those who chose to be nomads, and they aren't afraid to head to court to protect those rights from overzealous states.
There’s a website called seniorhomeshares.com for seniors looking for a roommate. That might be an option for snowbirding as well.
I’ve talked about doing this with an old school friend in Atlanta. She would spend June, July, and August with me in Minnesota, and I’d spend December, January and February with her in Georgia. The other 6 months we’d get away from each other. I don’t think either of us has a place large enough to comfortably share for a 3-month period but it was an interesting plan to consider.
That's a good idea.
I'm not looking to share yet, but when we had young children growing up here in Colorado, my mother from Phoenix would visit every summer to escape the Arizona heat.
It would make sense to find people from Arizona who might want to spend about 6 months in Colorado during the hottest summer months in exchange for a swap during the winter.
Our house has plenty of room.
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