By PAT FORGEY
JUNEAU EMPIRE
This year’s Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend will be $1,174, Gov. Sean Parnell announced this morning.
That’s down a bit from last year’s $1,281, as some stock market losses began to be averaged into the five-year dividend calculation formula.
This year’s payments will go out on Oct. 6.
The annual dividends, provided by earnings on the state’s oil wealth savings account, this year will pump about $858 million into the state’s economy.
At the dividend announcement at an Anchorage press conference, Parnell said his family would be spending their dividends on college.
“With one daughter in college and one on the way to college we’re going to be investing in education with ours,” Parnell said.
Comments (13)
Add commentNot bad
Considering it is a five year average, and the boon years of 2007 and 2008 are going to be dropping off the equation, this is still a nice chunk of change!
You are right Audio...expect
You are right Audio...expect to see lower amounts in the future. However, it is free money so who can complain?
nice
I ain't complaining. The fund is over $40 billion. As soon as we get the recession years behind us, those checks will shoot up!
And with America's increasing addiction to oil, those prices will only go up, and this means more money for us.
It's great to be Alaskan!
I am pissing mine away, like I always do.
Enjoy
Bean - yes, it will likely be about $100 less next year, bottom out just over $1000 for 2013, and then head back up again. A four figure payment for residency is still nice anyway you slice it!
Jo - so honest
Jo, I love your honesty. Enjoy the pissing away!
Wish I could consider pissing it away
Wish I could consider pissing it away. The entire family's pfd's will go to the debt accumulated living in Juneau for the past year. Every year we apply the pfd to the debt and get us back up to seeing daylight. Wish ours could be for the kids education or for them to consider pissing away, but not for a few more years. They wanna eat or have a roof? Then they forfeit their pfd
kpawsuh
your comments are always so depressing...
The first 5 years I was
The first 5 years I was eligible for the PFD I was a single mom to two school aged kids. I worked my but off making about $14 hr. I was never on any kind of public assistance. I managed to keep my debt under control and lived within my means. We were never forced to use it to pay regular household bills. When I realized our rent was too much, I downsized to a smaller apt. I sold my fancy car and bought an older reliable car with a "juneau body". Out of control debt is only a product of our own inability to live within our means instead of keeping up with the Jones'. Our PFD was never used to pay the bills that are my responsibility as the adult. One year we DID use it for a wonderful family vacation with memories that my kids still talk about.
Permanent? - Nothing Lasts Forever...
Jacked up service fees, utility rate hikes, taxes, etc. - It all ends up back in the community one way or another, wouldn't you say?
It's amazing to read these prophecies of future PFD's. Do you honestly think these dividends are going to continue year after year? That term 'Permanent' is about as accurate as the term 'Temporary' is when used to describe another tax increase. There are numerous politicians at every level simply drooling at an opportunity to cut themselves a piece of that pie.
On the other hand, there are those who think it was too bad the idea of a one-time large payout never caught on. It might have given a real boost to those individuals who didn't want to piecemeal the earnings while more reasons for additional deductions were invented.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other . . . It will at least fill the heating oil tank - once. And what a warm feeling that will be when winter arrives, eh? When all is said and done, let us not forget to thank the late, great Governor Jay Hammond for his foresight. Since it's inception every cent of mine gets spent right here in Alaska!
Benefits of Socialism
Nice to get some of the redistributed wealth.
BradJohnson, I'm so very
BradJohnson, I'm so very happy that your world is sunny and rosy. I have had a lot of expenses, many related to high risk pregnancies with my wife for every kids we had, being hired by an employer in town and having them change the deal after I had committed everything, struggling to get by, working 20 hr days seven days a week to keep my head above water for anyone willing to pay me, and still managing to do a lot of volunteer work as that makes life bearable. I am finally getting to where I can see daylight, and AEL&P is raising their rates and so are the city utilities. My family gets their needs met and dont feel the impacts as I work harder to make up the difference. Occasionally, that makes one somewhat less than sunny. Sorry if that offends you. However, I call it like I see it. Many of my posts are sunny. Perrhaps you just dont read those aarticles since they are not political enough for you. Anyway, hope you have fun pissing your PFD away.
And Michelerenee, you seem to have an overly simplified view of life. We are more frugal than nearly everyone we know. Not everyone with money problems drives a fancy car.
Is Parnell stupid or just a complusive liar?
There little meaningfull relationship between TAPS and the divided. Are you just a sucker for Parnell's lies.
Everybody knew Parnell was lying. Parnell just goes from lie to lie. It does not make any difference oil and gas to cruise ships. Parnell compulsively has to tell a lie. Now is Parnell a pathological Liar? He cannot be that stupid. Maybe Parnell thinks you are ignorant, stupid and gullible enough to believe his lies.
There are cadre of reporters ready to peddle Parnell’s lies to the public. For example Becky Bohrer of the AP normally peddles Parnell oil and gas lies. Today Becky is peddling Parnell’s lies about the Permanent Fund Dividend and how it is dependent on the through put of TAPS which it is not.
The Permanent Fund is directed by a failed banker who has not got the sense to get out of the market when it starts to fall despite pay hundreds millions for advice and it cost Alaskans about $10 billion each time.
Then Becky to embellish her story, made up a lie about why the permanent fund was created. Becky doesn’t have clue as to who was responsible for the permanent fund nor why he sponsored the Permanent Fund legislation and neither do you. That is why Becky can get away with lying.
Parnell simply lied, Parnell cannot appear before the press without lying. Pathological? Parnell connected the Dividend to Parnell’s $2 billion oil tax give away because Parnell knows you and the press are too ignorant and stupid to know better.