Kirk W

We had that as well, partly through good fortune and partly due to plannng by sticking with an employer who offered those benefits. I don't know if my former employer still offers those benefits or not.

No doctor statement of any kind is needed.

Welcome to the forums! No physical exam or medical statement of any kind is needed.

I would call that smart, not lucky. Most of us don't really think much about retiring until we get close to the age where our friends and coworkers are leaviing. I was fortunate in that my dad was 35 when I was born and he was still working at 70, when he cautioned me about putting a plan in action to be able to retire. Dad was farming when SS was introduced and so didn't become part of it until 1957. It isn't so much what your plan is as it is that you have a plan and work with the plan. Life has no guarantees and neither do plans, but your are much more likely to succeed if you have some goals and a plan to reach them.

Welcome to the Escapee forums! Do you carry all of those in an RV? I did once see a woodshop of that type that was set up in a fifth wheel, toy hauler.

I don't think that the state even considers if anyone is a fulltmer. The issue is if they have a permanent, physical address in the state or county.

We very much agree with your thoughts! I left at the very earliest that my employer would give me retirement without penalty (age 57) and that has now been almost 20 years ago. We started to draw our social security at the age of 62 and that too was, for us the right decision. Yes, we would have more money if we had waited, but we would have missed out on so many wonderful experiences that we will always remember from those extra yeas. Remember that the only thing you have which once gone can never be recovered or replaced is time. Use it well as yours will run out far more quickly than you think!

Most people who are into that sort of thing consider the baby boomers to be those who were born between 1946 and 1964. I am aware that nowadays that BOF will accept pretty much anyone who wishes to join, but that was not always the case in the early days. Also, at least in the beginning it also hinged around a gathering on the deserts near Quartzsite, which has never been on our favorites list.

Some of us predate that group as well. Perhaps we need a chapter of the over the hill gang? 😄

From the Escapees Facebook page...

I'm not sure what purpose that would serve or why they would spend the money to do it and wonder how many of the companies would share that information? If you really want to know why they don't do that, contact the business office and ask them. I have no inside information that you don't have.

Escapees only reports on their customers so that would only be theirs but I believe that it includes TX, SD, and FL. And you are correct that SD has at least 2 other mail service companies but to be half the population they would need to have 100K customers each if you use 2 voters per address. Unfortunately I can't find any source for an accurate number of fulltimers by state or nationally. The US Census used to have a catagory for "boats, RVs and other non-standard housing" but if they still do, I can't lforocate it. The last figure that I saw from them was about 300k in that catagory. Perhaps 10 years or so ago, the U of Texas did a study on fulltimers impact on the state and they then used a figure that I think was around 60K fulltimers in TX and something similar for snowbirds who winter here. The numbers of fulltimers is a subject that I have seen speculated on for many years and I have searched for some means of getting more than just a guess, but with no recent source for documentation, but I am pretty sure that fulltimers don't make up half of the SD population. If you ever do find a source, please do share it with us as the number of fulltimers is a very popular guessing game that nobody can win. 🤗

Is that the address on your driver's license and vehicle registrations?

So how many fulltimers do you believe there are domiciled up there? According to the US Census Bureau, SD has a current population of 833,354 which should include fulltimers if the count was accurate. Just for reference, the last number that I heard for Escapee supplied addresses was 15,000. I think that your numbers might be a little bit high?

I contacted the office on this issue and the following is the response that I received.

First, welcome to the Escapee forums! Not knowing the details of your situation, I can't address your case but I can tell you what happened in a case that I know of personally. In this case (took place several years ago in Ft Worth, TX) the bank customer bought a new RV that was financed by the bank that he did business with and where he had a good credit record. A short time after delivery of the RV it began to have very serious problems and after involving an attorney the dealer & RV manufacturer agreed to replace his RV with one of the same model but 1 model year newer. The dealership delivered the new RV's MSO(manufacturer's statement of origin) to the bank and the bank then released the title for the defective RV to the dealer. The buyer then went to the bank and the bank had him sign new loan documents that show the new RV's description and VIN and they marked the old loan agreement as paid in full and returned it to the RV buyer. The RV buyer then took delivery of the new RV from the selling dealer.

When you are ready to slow, campground hosting is only 1 of a long list of volunteer and paid positions that are available to you.

You may also want to look into work-camping to add some extra revenue & a free site or you could try being an RV volunteer as many of us here have done as that dramatically lowers your expenses.

How far do you still have to go in order to reach your projected retirement? We were fortunate in that I made most of my career with a company that had early retirement as a part of their benefits package. I was able to meet the requirements of that program and retire at the age of 57, with a health care plan as part of the benefits. I don't know if that programs still exists for my previous employer today or not. I hesitated to leave then as I could have increased the size of my retirement checks by staying there longer but looking back and very glad that I resisted temptation.

I stopped locking the car to the coach after I watched a fellow stop with a pusher engine fire and lose his tow car too because he couldn't get the pins unlocked. By the time he found his keys it was too hot to use them.

I guess I don't put as much trust in the card's bill as you do since we use the cards far too much to remember every purchase, who from & the amount. We track ours and consider the money spent just the same was if it were a checking account, paying the bill in full each month, after reconciliation with our records, just was used to be done in the days of checking account use. Looking online you see the same thing that your bill will show.

How do you check your statements to be sure that all of the purchases are yours?

Welcome to the Escapee forums. No manufacturer is so good that every unit is always trouble free which is the reason for a warranty. To take a month to get to a customer in the peak season as it is now isn't uncommon, unfortunately. If you are dealing with the place that you bought the RV, try speaking to the salesperson who sold it to you as they might be able to help. You may also want to contact the manufacturer to see if they would authorize you to get it repaired by one of the mobile RV services. As to the problems you have, does the leak happen all of the time, or only when using the shower? If only when showering you could use the RV but take your showers in the park's facilities while you wait to get repairs. Also, the fact that it only leaks when in use would seem to indicate that the leak is in the drain pan or drain plumbing which may be owner repairable. If you can pin down where the leak is located it may be as simple as tightening a fitting.

What has puzzled me is the fact that most truck stops list a cash price and a higher credit price for diesel nowadays, yet when I fill my truck with diesel at the car island, I am charged the lower price. Does everyone using the truck islands pay more for credit card use?

Those who pay in cash still do that by going in first to get the pump enabled. Some stations do ask you to leave the cash with them, but not all of them do.