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How to start new business in California and save money!

This is an old post from Mail on Screen when I lived in California. I resettled to Florida and now I am going to focus on doing business in Florida. One reader of this blog requested this old post and therefore decided to post it here.

Nowadays to pay hundreds of dollars to incorporation providers is a waste of money especially when you can do almost anything entirely online by yourself. When you know all the important information and requirements, then starting a business in California could be easy!

I went through this entire process when I was incorporating my LLC in California for my business Mail on Screen and during the whole process, I realized it is quite easy and I did not need to pay any incorporation providers. I decided to provide this complete tutorial for both domestic and international applicants who wants to start a business in California and avoid paying a fee to the providers.

Follow these steps and start your business in California today!

  1. Choose a Business Entity
  2. Choose a Business Name
  3. Business Address & Registered Agent
  4. Form Your Business
  5. Statement of Information
  6. Bylaws
  7. Apply for an EIN
  8. Open a Bank Account

1. Choose a Business Entity

Before you dive into the whole process you should primarily consider what type of business is right for you. I did not include in this tutorial Sole Proprietorship because it is not considered as a business entity. Below you find different types of businesses you can form in California.

  • Corporation
  • Limited Liability Company
  • Limited Partnership
  • General Partnership
  • Limited Liability Partnership

If you wish to find out more about business entities in California, please visit the official website of the California Secretary of State.

I will briefly introduce and compare the two most common business types you can form in California, the Corporation, and the Limited Liability Company.

Corporation

The corporation is a legal business entity that is completely separated from its owners. The owners are commonly known as shareholders. The corporation is managed by a board of directors. The Biggest Advantage of the corporation is the highest liability protection for owners, easily accessible capital from investors. On the other hand, maintaining the corporation is more time and money-consuming.

Tip: The corporation is probably the best choice for those who want one day to sell the business to the investors.

California Corporation Costs: (required by California State)

  • State fee for Corporation: $100
  • Statement of information: $20 (every two years)
  • Annual franchise tax: $800 (every year)

Limited Liability Company

The limited liability company or LLC combines similar personal liability protection as a corporation but is not considered a separate business entity when it comes to income tax. All LLC’s profits and losses are taxed through their owners (called members in LLC) in their personal income tax. The LLC can be managed by its members or managers. Another plus is less paperwork with LLC than with the corporation.

Tip: LLC is probably a better option in most cases unless you are not looking for investors.

California LLC Costs:

  • State fee for LLC: $70 (required by California state)
  • Statement of information: $20 (every two years)
  • Annual franchise tax: $800 (every year)

2. Choose a Business Name

In the previous step, you decided what type of business you will establish, and now it is time to choose the name for your business. Always follow California naming requirements to avoid any problems. Complete California naming requirements you can find below.

NAME REQUIREMENTS

Follow most important naming requirements below

  • Do not include words that are used by government agencies such a (State Department, FBI, Treasury, NSA and so on)
  • There are some restricted words such a (Bank, Attorney, University) These words can be possibly used for the name of your business with additional requirements and permits. For this reason, I suggest avoiding these words
  • Your business name must include designator like examples below: (these are most common, and I recommend them)

Your LLC name + LLC

Your LLC name + limited liability company

Your Corporation name + INC

Search if the desired name is available

  • Be sure your desired name is not occupied by another business. You can search for free on the official website of California State.
SEARCH NAME AVAILABILITY

Tip: To avoid any problems choose the name that you did not find when name searching

Tip: It is also a good idea to find out if the domain name with your desired business name is available

SEARCH DOMAIN AVAILABILITY

3. Business Address & Registered Agent

When registering your business with secretary state of California, you will have to fill:

  • Business address in California
  • Agent for service of process in California

I created this tutorial to help people incorporate their business in California without paying high fees to someone else. In this step, you may consider and determine what is your options when it comes to business address and registered agent, in California commonly known as an agent for service of process.

Technically you do not need to pay for a business address and hire a commercial registered agent for your business if you nominate yourself, your family member, or a friend with a physical street address in California. If you do not have an address or someone else with an address in California, you will have to obtain a business address from some mail forwarding provider and hire a commercial agent for the service of process.

Business Address in California

Are you confused about what the terms below mean?

  • Mail Forwarding
  • Mailing Address
  • Business Address
  • Virtual Address
  • Virtual Business Address
  • Virtual Mailbox
  • Virtual Office
  • Mail Forwarding

These terms above usually represent similar services. Signing for one of these services you will get a mailbox on a real street address in California provided by some mail forwarding provider. You have the right to use this address as your own postal mailbox for personal and business purposes. Best mail forwarding providers offer free online accounts when you can view and manage all your mail entirely online.

CA VIRTUAL ADDRESS

Tip: You cannot use PO.BOX address as your business address in California when registering your business with the secretary of state. Always be sure you get a physical street address when signing up for a mail forwarding service.

Agent for service of Process in California

The agent for service of process commonly known as registered agent legally represents your business with the secretary of state and with other government agencies. The main responsibility of the agent of process is to receive official mail documents, on behalf of your business name. It can be individual person or commercial provider that meets these requirements:

  • Physical street address in California (not PO.BOX)
  • Available on this address from Monday through Friday during business hours           
  • Must be able to forward as soon as possible any mail to actual owner of the business

Before you nominate your agent for service of process, compare the advantages and disadvantages of all possible choices. Due to I moved to Florida I no longer can help with this so I would recommend IncParadise in the link below. I am their client in Wyoming for years.

CA REGISTERED AGENT

Comparison of different agents for service of process

Yourself

+

  • You will save some money

–

  • Loss of privacy because the address of agent of process is public in California
  • Loss of freedom because you should be accessible at your address Monday through Friday.
  • If you are on vacation or travel for any reason you can miss important mail and it can have negative consequences for you and your business.

Family Member or Friend

+

  • You will save some money

–

  • Loss of privacy because address of agent of process is public in California
  • Loss of freedom because you should be accessible at your address Monday through Friday
  • You must trust your family member’s or friend’s responsibility
  • Some people do not like the idea that someone from family or friends will see private information dedicated to your business

Commercial Agent for Service of Process

+

  • You protect your home address
  • You can view and manage your mail 24/7 from anywhere in your online account
  • You will not miss some important mail if you are not home

–

  • You will pay some money for this service

4. Form Your Business

You have basically three options, how to register your corporation or LLC in California:

  1. Online
  2. By mail
  3. Submit in person in Sacramento

I will describe only online filling because it is fastest and most convenient way.

Online Filling – Processing Time:

You can expect a processing time of approximately 5 business days. You will get a confirmation in your email.

Online Filling – Prepare:

  • Debit or credit card
  • Business name that is available – see step 2
  • Business address in California – see step 3
  • Agent for service of process – see step 3
  • Your name and address (domestic or international)
  • Phone number
  • Email

Corporation

  • State fee for Corporation: $100
  1. Click on the button – Form Corporation
  2. Follow online form
  3. File Articles of Incorporation for Corporation
FORM CORPORATION

Limited Liability Company

  • State fee for LLC: $70
  1. Click on the button – Form Corporation
  2. Follow online form
  3. File Articles of Organization for Limited Liability Company
FORM LLC

Tip: If you register a corporation you will have to provide number of issued stocks. One is minimum. If you do not know how many money stocks you should have, I would recommend at least 100 stocks.

Tip: If you cannot properly load online forms in links, you are probably outside of the US and you have a problem with VPN. I have personal experience with this service and it worked for me.

5. File Statement of Information

All newly formed corporations and LLCs in California are required to file an initial statement of information within 90 days of formation.

You have basically three options, how to file statement of information for corporation or LLC in California:

  1. Online
  2. By Mail
  3. Submit in person in Sacramento

Online Filling – Prepare:

  • Debit or credit card

Corporation

  • State fee for statement of information: $20
  1. Click on link – Corporation statement of information
  2. Fill name of your corporation and search
  3. Click on button – continue filling
CORPORATION STATEMENT OF INFORMATION

Limited Liability Company

  • State fee for statement of information: $20
  1. Click on link – LLC statement of information
  2. Fill name of your LLC and search
  3. Click on button – continue filling
LLC STATEMENT OF INFORMATION

Tip: Be aware that you must file a statement of incorporation every two years. To see how to properly maintain your corporation or LLC in California read this article.

6. Create Bylaws

Bylaws are an internal source of rules for a corporation or LLC to determine and regulate ownership, management structure, and processes in the organization. The common name for corporation bylaws is articles of incorporation and operating agreements for LLC. You are required to create bylaws for your business, but you do not have to prove this document to the California secretary of state. However, you will need this document when opening a bank account.

There are plenty of sources of free and paid templates on the internet. You can also hire a lawyer to create this internal document for your business. It is completely up to you.

I historically used this templates in links below.

Corporation

CREATE CORPORATION BYLAWS

Limited Liability Company

CREATE OPERATING AGREEMENTS

7. Apply for EIN

An EIN is Employer Identification Number is a nine-digit number issued from IRS for tax purposes. The EIN is important for opening a bank account or if hiring employees.

Obtaining an EIN from IRS is easy and you can apply online (only domestic applicants) You can also apply by filing form SS-4. Download the SS-4 form below and apply by mail or fax if you cannot apply online.

  1. Online
  2. By Mail
  3. By Fax

IRS fee for EIN: free

EIN APPLY ONLINE
EIN APPLY BY MAIL OR FAX

Mail to:
Internal Revenue Service
Attn: EIN Operation
Cincinnati, OH 45999

Fax: (855) 641-6935

Tip: If you are international applicant for EIN (non-resident) please read this

8. Open a Business Bank Account

In most cases, you will have to visit the bank in California to open a bank account for your California business.

A common recommendation is to choose one of the biggest banks, but this is completely up to you.

LIST OF BIGGEST BANKS

Opening business bank account:

  • Visit local branch of desired bank in California.
  • Bring filed articles of incorporation or articles of organization from state of California.
  • Bring bylaws for corporation or operating agreements for LLC.
  • Bring letter from IRS with assigned EIN
  • Provide Business address in California – see step 3
  • Bring 2 IDs (passport, driver’s license etc.)
  • Initial deposit in cash (typically $100-200 according to bank)

Congratulations! your business in California is all set!

Do not forget to properly maintain your business in future

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1 year in the USA!

Sunset in Florida

It has been a while since a posted the last time. I apologize but since I moved to Florida I have been very busy with my new mining business. However I recently moved to Jupiter, FL and my business is only 40 minutes driving form my home. First 4 months I lived in Pompano Beach and usually spent 3 hours driving every day. That is why there was not a space for this blog.
These days 1 year ago I landed in Los Angeles and my dream became true. I stayed in LA for 7 months until the end of November and then packed my stuff and crossed the US in three days in the car. The whole of December I was visiting my crypto crazy friend Daniel in North Carolina near the capital city Raleigh. Finally, at the beginning of January, I arrived at my new home in Florida!

LA and Sothern California

You can’t beat the weather and breathtaking views of mountains and the ocean every day. However, if you wanna live nice or even fancy live in this city you must be more than the average member of the US middle class. Living close to the nicest areas like Redondo, Hermosa, Manhattan Beach or Marina Del Rey is at least $3.000 per month for a small 1 bedroom apartment. If you want to buy an average house for a start it’s at least $1,5m probably more. Anything close to the beach starts around $3-4m. In my case, I don’t see the point of staying in LA and cannot afford a nice house near the beach. Besides nice weather and views and the high cost of living there are other disadvantages such as crazy Covid-19 restrictions and people celebrating socialism.

It was nice vacation first months but…

I have to admit that first months in LA I was more interested in exploring new places, going hiking, skating at the beach, and settling down in the new country than doing business. First of all, I needed some break after 3 years of permanent working for our car business in Czech. These first months I did not have that drive and motivation I used to have when I was starting other businesses in the past. Finally, a few months later my friend John introduced me to his new crypto mining business and offered me cooperation. It was a big business school for me, it was intense. I traveled across the nation exploring bitcoin farms in Oregon, Washington, Texas, and Florida. I also spent more than 1 month in three training courses for bitcoin mining and ASIC repairing in West Virginia and in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Working with somebody successful like John wasn’t easy for me. I have generally problems with leaders and John is mr. businessman. Even though I probably a little bit made him angry I still admire him for his career, his help to me, and honestly he and his blog is the main reason I am in the US. However, I did not feel pretty comfortable working with him so I later decided to leave his project and move to Florida because I got an offer to become an exclusive operating contractor on the existing and growing farm.

The USA is a big country and if you wanna get somewhere you have to fly or drive fast.

Flying for Americans is probably like drinking a beer for Czechs literally. I like how the US works as everything works very similarly in every state. You take Uber to the airport, you fly, you rent a car, you book a hotel – easy peasy right.
I had also a great idea to drive from the west coast to the east coast, to be more specific from LA to Raleigh in NC, and did this in three days. This trip was more than 2,500 miles. I was driving every day for more than 13 hours and day. I paid around $300 for speeding.

Credit Score is important in the US

Well, I knew this before and I constantly work on building my credit score because I wanna finally buy a car with the loan in order to get back cash from my current car. After one year in the US, I have already 5 credit cards and my Fico Score is around 724, once I get above 740 I am gonna finance a new car. For those who do not know, it is even hard to lease an apartment without a good credit score. Somebody can say it is not fair for people who do not have SSN or have bad credit but I would respond: who cares? Life is not fair, your life is your responsibility, keep socialism in Europe, do not bring it to the US please!

War in Ukraine shocked me

When the war started I was literally shocked, scared and angry. I remember I could not sleep, work, or even think about business. I stayed home and all the time check the news from the US and from the Czech. I am against any war and I am sorry for normal people in Ukraine even in Russia because this not gonna help anybody. It can pretty much hurt the whole world. However, life goes on and I had to stop watching it because I really could not focus on anything. I wish this war gonna stop soon!

I realized I like life in America more than I thought

I went to the Czech Republic for the whole of March and honestly, I could not wait to be there. After almost a year without family, friends, Czech food, and beer I felt kind of homesick. I don’t know if it was because of the winter or the atmosphere from the war nearby but for some reason, I felt strange there. I mean the upset faces of the people, everything was somehow grey. I felt depressed. I got it soon after my arrival sick, thanks to many drink parties I joined. I still feel like Czech and I wanna go there, especially in the summers but I don’t know if I would really want to move back after one year in the US. I felt pretty happy when I got back to Florida!

I have to keep my stuff well organized

I like system and order, but when you have businesses in the Czech Republic and the US, technically two lives in two different countries, then sometimes you need to solve a lot of things. I realized that if I want to be successful everywhere, and get rich, I have to keep the system or order in everything because there is nothing worse than losing money and time when you have to deal with some clutter because you lack the system. I would also mention for those who do some business here as foreigners and have something else somewhere else you are supposed to file tax returns from your incomes from other countries too. I heard many people from my country saying we don’t care the IRS does not have the power to find out what we have or what we earn in Czech, well I talked recently to my CPA here in the US and he warned me that things will be worse and worse because the US government spent a lot’s of money during a pandemic so they need collect taxes. I decided to responsibly file everything because when you stay more than 6 months in the US in a calendar year you become automatically tax resident here.

I finally feel power and big motivation to build some values here

Let’s say that this first year was kind of getting know-how everything works in the US for me and as I mentioned especially in LA I lacked that motivation that I need to be able to work hard on something. I finally settled down here in Florida and I have the best conditions to grow my two businesses. Mail on Screen will be open soon in Florida again and I believe that Florida is actually one of the best states for this business because there are a lot of people partly living here only a few months per year. My second business is Falkor Mining offering hosting colocation for ASIC miners here on our farm in Florida. I decided to put my effort only into these two businesses because I don’t wanna focus on more than two projects.

I also started another blog in my Czech language about life in Florida and business in the US. I wanna keep both blogs because I still have both readers who speak only Czech or Slovak only. The other reason is I can definitely better explain some stories or my thoughts in my language.

See ya guys soon!

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Finally in Florida!

Last week I finally arrived in Pompano Beach, my new home from North Carolina. I drove 12 hours and to be honest I am done for some time with long trips like that. At the beginning of December, I drove from LA to Chapel Hill, NC in three days – 2500 miles and last week another 800 miles to Florida.

Alright, first comparison between Florida and California? In Florida, most of the people live their lives like there is no COVID! Yeah, no masks, no vaccination, no certificates – God Bless the free state of Florida! The only places you have to wear masks are airports, healthcare, and governemnet buildings.

I would like to mention other two things. Drivers in Miami are probably worse than in LA, more aggresive but traffic is probably slightly better here. It’s moving at least. Humidity is present even now in winter. It is nothing crazy but I feel it. However the weather is just amazing. I don’t have to think what to wear. You just need here t-shirts and shorts. In LA in this time evenings are pretty chilly, in South Florida evenings are nice warm with wind that cool you down.

I spent two weeks in LA during Christmas and had a little bit of time so I put together some facts, tips about living in Florida and about the US in general. The website is in Czech language. Please do not judge me for grammar 😀

I am pretty busy currently but I hope I will write more again. See ya!

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I am still alive!

I am sorry guys. It’s been a while I wrote some articles. Honestly, I have been pretty busy recently and there is much news on my side! I got involved in the crypto mining business and I spent the whole summer traveling across the US visiting many farms and I also finished three training courses: bitcoin farm operations, bitcoin farm maintenance, ASIC miner repair. I have to say I am tired of traveling because I had more than 10 flights this summer. I went to Oregon, Washington, Texas, Florida, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois for a very short time. On the other hand, I have seen many new places and cities and to be honest, LA and Miami are the best so far.

The biggest news is I am leaving California next week and moving to Florida! The main reason is I am going to work on several crypto mining projects in Florida. Unfortunately, my lovely California is probably one of the worst states to start a mining business. Surprisingly in Florida on the other hand you can still get very cheap power and we bitcoin miners need a lot of affordable power. I also met many people from Miami metro area who are involved in this crazy mining industry. These circumstances helped me to decide to choose Florida.

On Tuesday next week, I am packing all my stuff and I am going to drive to Miami – my new home! It is almost 4500km. The first stop is in North Carolina though, where I am going to visit my friend from one of the training courses I attended and we will build a container for miners together.

I am pretty curious about life in Miami because I never thought that I would move to Florida lol! Sometimes life does not ask you what do you want to. Hopefully, I will start to share my life and business experiences again from Sunshine State!

Miami – new home from December 2021
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My strategy for building credit

I briefly mentioned what is credit in this post where I was describing how I applied for SSN. Well, I read many tutorials and watched many videos, how to build a good credit score from scratch (without any history) Below is my strategy for the first six months.

My Strategy

In order to build good credit, I will use two secured credit cards. The Secured credit card means that the bank will give you a credit line but you have to deposit usually the same amount of money to a bank that is your credit line. Let’s show an example: Your limit is $1,000, then you have to deposit to bank $1,000. After some time (typically 6-12 months) bank reviews your history and gives you your deposit back and you get a regular credit card if the bank sees that you are a responsible borrower.

What will I do to build good credit?

  • use only 10-30% of credit line from both cards
  • Pay my credit cards off in full every month
  • Pay my credit cards on time every month
  • Have two secured cards from different banks or credit unions
  • One card is Visa and the second is Mastercard

Bank of America – Secured Credit Card – Visa

I applied for a secured credit card in Bofa with a limit of $1.000 three weeks ago. Today I increased my limit to $5.000. I called the bank and the banker asked me about my monthly income and rent I pay. I also already had enough funds on my checking account (at least $4,000) because how I said the bank will take this money as a safe deposit.

  • no monthly or annual fee
  • $5.000 limit – will use only $500-1,500 every month
  • 3% back from gas
  • 2% back from grocery purchase
  • 23% Interest – I don’t care about interest because I will pay the whole credit in full every month

Capital One – Secured Credit Card – Mastercard

Tonight, I also applied for a second card from Capital One entirely online. They wanted me to send a copy of my passport and a copy of my SSN because I am not a US citizen or resident. Now I am waiting for the result from Capital One.

  • no monthly or annual fee
  • $1.000 limit – will use only $100-300 every month ($1,000 was max limit at the moment)
  • 27% Interest – I don’t care about interest because I will pay the whole credit in full every month

I didn’t really explain my strategy but trust me I spent a couple of hours putting this strategy together so let’s see if is a good strategy in a couple of months!

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Cost of living in Los Angeles!

cost-of-living-in-la

LA, SF, and NYC are probably the most expensive cities in the US. When you are considering to move to these cities you should be aware about the cost of living. Below is my current list

  • lease (2 bedroom apartment including utilities) – $2,000
  • food (I don’t cook often) – $1,000
  • gas – $150
  • car insurance – $50
  • cell phone plan – $40
  • other expenese (gym + some shopping) – $300

Total approximately: $3,540

I bought the used car with cash so I don’t have to pay monthly lease or rent but if I would pay for car financing my expenses would increase to $4,000 per month. We are still talking about I don’t spend for any uselessness. On the other hand, if you would really need to keep expenses below I believe you could share an apartment and pay probably around $1,000 and also maybe cut your food expenses to $500 so let’s say minimum expenses here could be like $2,000 per month. It is not life you would like to live here though.

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How to apply for SSN as E-2 visa holder

american-flag-and-building

For the American citizens is nothing extraordinary to have this nine-digit SSN. The parents in the US. usually apply for their children’s social security number in the hospital after birth. This number lives with his or her holder for whole life, literally.

Who can apply for SSN?

Generally only US citizens, permanent residents (green card holders) and non-citizens (foreigners) who has authorization to work in the US. may apply for SSN.

Why is SSN so important?

  1. SSA – Social Security Administration is responsible for tracking all your life earnings. All your records are connected to your SSN and when you retire, the SSA calculates your benefit payments according to your contribution to the system.
  2. Most importantly your credit or credit history is connected to your SSN and if you don’t have SSN you cannot build credit. I can truly tell you that without SSN is life in the US very difficult. I don’t mean if you are a student for one year or on vacation for two weeks. If you are here for a longer time then it is problem because without SSN you cannot build credit and if you don’t have the credit you cannot apply for a credit card, car loan, mortgage. In most cases, you will have a problem applying for a lease (I tried to apply for a 1-year lease in two places and they told me it is not possible without SSN) If you have a good credit score the lenders consider you a responsible person and they will lend you money with low interests. Honestly whole of America live on depth and if you are not a dollar millionaire you will live on the debth too 🙂

How did I apply for my SSN with E-2 visa?

It was a story. The next day after my arrival I gathered all necessary documents for applying for my SSN. I needed:

  1. Passport with valid visa (your visa must allow you to work in the US. With the E-2 visa that I have I can legally work in my business so I am eligible to apply for SSN)
  2. Form I-94 is arrival record that says when did you arrive in the US. Visit offical website
  3. Form SS-5 is the application for SSN. You can download it here

I Applied only for I-94 and downloaded it for free. Then I filled Form SS-5 and printed both documents in the closest UPC store (you can print your documents there if you don’t have a printer)

I went to the nearest SSA in Torrance and when I arrived I found out that all offices in the US. are temporarily closed due to COVID-19 On the door was the number for emergency requests. I called this number several times without any luck. After 2 hours of calling, I was finally able to speak with an employee SSA. She told me that I can apply only in person and asked me many questions and put me on the list of applicants. Then she added wait for two weeks and we will call you with the date of your appointment. Well, I waited two weeks and nobody was calling. I was frustrated and called them every day and finally, they asked me if I wanna come the next day? I said definitely and the next day I applied for my SSN in that office (they only open for invited applicants) They gave me confirmation and I told me to wait, your SSN card will arrive by mail in one week. Well, it arrived in two weeks but it arrived, finally! I’ve got my SSN and I already opened my first personal bank account and secured credit card in the US. In some next posts, I will share my strategy on how to build the best credit in the shortest time!

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Auto Insurance in California

This is gonna be a quick post! If you buy a used or new car from a dealer in California they should not let you leave without proof of insurance (this information I found on Google) On the other hand if you buy a car in a private sale (from someone else), the seller probably will not take the car too much about your insurance. It is your responsibility. Always remember it is illegal to drive an uninsured car in California and you should insure your car as soon as possible. The minimum state requirements for insurance are here.

When I got home after buying my firsrt car, I was looking for auto insurance. One of my friends recommends me Geico (it is the second-largest insurance company in the US). You can insure your car completely online. It took me less than 15 minutes. However, when I added my debit card and wanted to confirm the whole process, the payment was denied. After few moments I got an email from Geico that I should call them. I called them immediately and talked to some guy from the support department. He just said they need to validate my Canadian driver’s license and asked me several questions. In the end, he said your insurance is approved and the auto insurance is valid from today.

You need:

  • VIN (Seach on Title)
  • California Address
  • Some Driver’s License (I provided my valid driver’s license from Canada and it probably saves a lot of money because they recognize history from Canada. I am not sure you will able to insure your car with a driver’s license outside from the US or Canada)
  • Debit or Credit Card

You don’t need:

  • SSN
  • Title on your name (they will ask you register car to your name in 30 days)

My Cost:

  • Geico is good because according to your state they will offer you only auto insurance that meets minimum state requirements. The lowest cost I got was $49 per month (trust or not it is cheap) However I chose more expensive insurance with higher coverage. My monthly cost is $62

My Coverage:

Liability Insurance

(this is mandatory in California)

When you hit someone or something and it is your fault.

  • Bodily Injury Liabiality – $50,000/$100,000 (
  • Property Damage Liability – $25,000

Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist Coverage (you don’t have to have this in California)

When some drivers without insurance or with low coverage hit you this insurance should help you cover your medical bills and sometimes the damage cost of your car.

  • Uninsured Motorist & Underinsured Motorist – $15,000/$30,000

Additional Coverage: (I don’t have)

Due to I have an old and cheap car I don’t wanna spend money on additional insurance. However, when I buy a new car or car less than 5 years old I will use the coverage below.

Comprehensive Coverage (you don’t have to have this in California)

Basically, the comprehensive insurance cover situation like theft, fire, hail or vandalism.

Collision Coverage

If you are involved in some accident and it is your fault this insurance will cover repair costs for your own car.

I am glad I pay only $62 per month. I would like to know what is the average cost for Americans with long insurance history but I don’t think so they pay far less than me! When I was calling the guy from Geico support I asked him if the insurance will help me build the credit history and he told me it is a different system. However, if you drive without accidents and fines your insurance should be cheaper!