Question: Benefits
of Alaska
residency for retirees
My wife
and I are
thinking of moving to Alaska. I am
close to
retirement and would definitely enjoy the hunting and fishing. My wife
could
probably find employment in her manicuring profession. We have 2
children, a
son age seven and a daughter age 4 and one more due in October.
We have heard that there are several benefits available from the state
government just for
Alaska
residents. More
specifically, my wife had heard that there are special benefits for
college
education and special tax benefits for Alaska
residents. Can you
shed any light on these issues?
Answer:
There are
some
benefits for Alaska
residents, but they
are not that large, and
they may not even outweigh the higher cost of living. There used to be
much
more,
but the oil is running out. We have the Permanent Fund Dividend, which
pays $900
to $1900 per year to everyone who has lived here at least a year. We do
have
excellent public schools, but there are no special college
benefits--just a
typical college loan program. There are no federal tax benefits for
Alaskans. Sorry
to disappoint you. The only reason to move to
Alaska is
because you love
it, which is more than reason enough.
Question: Jobs
for college
students
I'm
interested in earning some money for college while traveling in Alaska next
summer. What are the job opportunities?
Answer:
Many a college student
has paid
for a trip to Alaska and a little bit of
tuition by
working in an Alaska fish cannery. Hillary
Clinton
recalled her college days on the slime line when she visited Alaska. It's hard, smelly
work, gutting
and cutting fish for long hours of overtime, but you can certainly bank
some of
your earnings by camping out or sleeping in a company dormitory.
Working at sea
is not a good idea. The factory processors can be dangerous places to
work, far
from medical attention, and quitting is impossible until they return to
shore.
Fishing boats rarely hire inexperienced deck hands, so your chances of
becoming
a commercial fisherman for a summer are small. Many hotels, tour
companies,
restaurants and other visitor industry employers hire large numbers of
summer
workers. It's a good idea to line something up, or at least have a good
idea of
what's available, before coming north. The best place to start is the
