Finances, Mail, Etc. while cruising

[patdan]

Hey Folks,

We made the move from land to full-time live-aboard about a year ago. For us that was not that big a change since we have have had many sailboats, and consider ourselves to be competent A to B sailors. It was more challenging getting rid of "stuff" and land based assets.

At the end of the 2022 hurricane season we plan on leaving. Where to? Well, initially the Caribbean. And from there, who knows. We have no plans on returning to the US on a permeant basses. So, here is where we are in need of some coaching.

How do other folks handle things like Banking, Mail, and having a US address for things like SS payments and the like? Also, interested in medical and boat insurance ideas.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions,

Dan & Patti

[skipmac]

Hi Dan and Patti,

Welcome to the forum. Your question is a common one. Here are links to a few of the previous discussions.


https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ce-230583.html

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ng-212146.html

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ng-104889.html

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...rds-57107.html

[sailorboy1]

I have mail sent to my daughter's house which is my address of record. I hardy get any mail.

I do all those other things electronically.

[PippaB]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I have mail sent to my daughter's house which is my address of record. I hardy get any mail.

I do all those other things electronically.

+1 right down to the mother's address. In five years of sailing the only physical mail she has ever had to forward was our annual USCG documentation. Now that that is available for a 5-year term even that largely goes away.

Everything else we do electronically. Find a solid solution for MFA (multi-factor authentication) that works for you.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Dan & Patti.

[toddster8]

Well, as I am just stepping off, I’ll bite.
Mail: I’ve signed up with Dockside Mail. It’s a bit spendy but we’ll see how it goes. My bank mailed a change of address acknowledgement to both the new and old addresses which I received yesterday. Dockside Mail has yet to ping me. Maybe I misunderstand how it works yet.
Almost everything can be “paperless” nowadays. But even the paperless services seem to send me a lot of paper!
Permanent address: This has a lot of tax and legal implications, including where you vote. My family still has the ancestral farm to which all the nomadic members of the family have always registered their vehicles, drivers licenses, etc. So have I.
It seems to me that those who don’t have a clan with ancestral property ought to form one. It’s good to have a piece of dirt to where you can retreat when everything goes dark. Even if it’s just a flop-house. Although the budget form of this is probably a PMB.
Insurance is a bit tricky. I have been a long-time member of DAN and have now signed up for their travelers insurance. It’s important to work out the differences between their membership and insurance products. But they do not cover chronic illnesses like aging, disease, cancer, etc.. For USonians, that means you also need Obamacare (if it survives). But the problem with that is that it only covers services near your “residence.” Meaning you have to fly “home” for treatment. Or even a check-up. So that’s something to consider back in the “permanent residence” step.
Or just limit your cruising to locations where medical treatment isn’t controlled by criminal organizations.

[Dave Lochner]

Set up all your financial business online, bills, payments, etc.

For snail mail, the little we receive, we used St. Brendan's Isle mail service. There are a few items that we receive that can only come via USPS.

We kept our dirt house, so that remains our permanent address.

[neilsf]

Originally Posted by toddster8

It’s good to have a piece of dirt to where you can retreat when everything goes dark. Even if it’s just a flop-house. Although the budget form of this is probably a PMB.

Just to chime in -- an increasing number of credit card and identity frauds are being carried out from PMBs (which don't have the same strict regulation as an old-school actual Post Office Box).

My Wells Fargo personal banker looked up the PMB I gave them when I opened an account a few years ago and said -- that's a PMB. What is your actual physical address? I fenced with her a bit and tried to explain I wanted all my mail to go to the PMB. She refused, and asked, "what address are you registered to vote with?" and then explained the fraud problem.

I wouldn't hang my hat on PMBs being an inexpensive solution for the long term, my $0.02.

[Dave Lochner]

Originally Posted by neilsf

Just to chime in -- an increasing number of credit card and identity frauds are being carried out from PMBs (which don't have the same strict regulation as an old-school actual Post Office Box).

My Wells Fargo personal banker looked up the PMB I gave them when I opened an account a few years ago and said -- that's a PMB. What is your actual physical address? I fenced with her a bit and tried to explain I wanted all my mail to go to the PMB. She refused, and asked, "what address are you registered to vote with?" and then explained the fraud problem.

I wouldn't hang my hat on PMBs being an inexpensive solution for the long term, my $0.02.

St Brendan's Isle provides an address USPS accepts as a physical address. The address form looks like an apartment. I don't know how other services deal with the issue.

[patdan]

All,

many thanks for the reply and suggestions!

Dan & Patti

[BobnCamie]

We have used St. Brendans Isle for 6-7 years now. They do our USCG documents for us through their services. Never been a problem with them.

[patdan]

Thanks BobnCamie!

Many people think SBI is the way to go. So, that has worked well for you?

Thanks again

Dan & Patti

[BobnCamie]

Yup, it has and still does work for us. And have no intention to change.

[ItDepends]

+1 for SBI.

[wingssail]

There are probably a number of PMB (private Mail Box) companies, St Brendens is one, of course. You need one of these for all of your mail. We've had one in Seattle since 1990 several years before we set sail.

Beyond that you can take care of most of your financial requirements with online. Start working on that. If you have trouble, change banks to one which will allow you to identify yourself with a token or other 2 forms of identification. If they require you to receive text messages on a US phone number, drop them. There are others which do not.

The real stickler is when you are required to declare a real physical address. Your PMB won't work. You are going to have to find an address. In my case I use my previous marina address which I have not lived in for 25 years. They still accept it. No mail goes there, it's just an address which passes the computer program which verifies addresses. If you use your PMB don't be surprised if someday a financial institution says, "You can't live there, it's only a small office and 2500 people list that as their address, impossible"

We did not use a relative. It is unfair to burden them with your mail or financial matters, and what happens if they want to move? Are they going to file a change of address for you? Get a PMB for your mail and some other place which you know is permanent.

Same with your "stuff". Don't leave it with a relative. Get rid of it or pay for a storage locker. You may think it is fine in your mother's basement, but eventually you'll have to clear it out. Do it now.

Phone number: Get a voice over IP phone number. There are several. We use Skype. It is a Seattle number (which goes with our Seattle PMB) . It rings on our computer and we have set it up to forward to our local cell phone wherever we are. When you arrive in a new area you get a local number and update your permanent number to forward to that new number.

Your friends and relatives always call the same number but it rings on whatever phone you are carrying.

Can't think of anything ese.