Is Alaska nice?

[KTP]

My wife and I were discussing picking a state to call home when we retire (hopefully early at 45-46) and are leaning toward Alaska. Besides having a desire to explore that state extensively, there seem to be some decent benefits to having it be your home state. No state income tax, no sales tax, limited property taxes, and they actually pay a dividend to live there.

Do any of you call Alaska home? Do you like it?

[LittleGopher]

I don't live in AK, but my brother and his family do, and they love it. They love camping, hiking, and exploring the state in the warm weather and nordic skiing in the winter. He does contract work for an airline, and they homeschool the kids, so that they can spend a few months in the fall traveling in the lower 48, as the winters can get very long (in fact, in a few days time they'll be soon catching the last ferry that heads up from Washington.) My brother works with a guy that does the contract work in the warmer months and then he heads down to Baja California for the winter.

Years ago when they were thinking of moving to AK, they (brother and wife, no kids yet)spent a couple years' vacations up there to check it out. They moved first to Fairbanks, but enjoy where they're at in Anchorage much better.

You're right about the taxes, but it's kind of a trade-off with the prices of goods. I can't remember exactly how long, but you will qualify for the dividend after living there a number of years.

Good luck in making your decision!

[ferriwinkle]

My wife and I moved to Montana a little over three years ago, which is nice as well, but we have always had this facination with Alaska--even though neither of us have been there!! We are planning to have an extended visit in the next few years (after we get out of debt!!). I think Alaska has this thing about it--maybe that's why it's the last best place. I know several people who have lived there and have moved there, they all say that it's a great way to live, jobs can hard to come by (from what they said), but if you're planning on retiring there, then that won't be an issue. I have done research on the dividend, and it looks like you need a full calendar year of residency before you can claim the dividend. hope this helps!

[KTP]

The dividend is nice, but not the sole reason I would want to move there. I am really into hiking and also gold prospecting for fun. Alaska is the last great frontier for both of those...just watch out for the bears!

The residency question is a good one though. Say we moved up to Alaska and started renting an apartment or house in September. We change over our DL and voting registration. The dividend registration period is Jan to March of the year you want to claim it. I guess this means we would need to wait until the next Jan (1 year 4 months) before filing to claim?

What would we need to do to stay a resident? Would we have to maintain an apartment, or could we drive around the state and camp out? What if the next winter we wanted to spend 2 or 3 months in southern US?

[ferriwinkle]

I can't remember all of the rules, but all I did was search for "Alaska Dividend" on google and you will find a link to the alaska.gov site related to the dividend and it has all of the requirements to be eligible for the dividend.

[wincrasher]

It may not be nice, but you'll probably not care. The cold eventually numbs the brain, hence you get the likes of Sarah Pahlin. Enjoy!

[buildmybudget]

We were just there for a cruise and it was incredible. I got the feeling from most of the ports we visited, however, that it is very difficult to come be a good job. The seasonal fluctuations in population dennsity were pretty astounding...so I guess if you can make it through the winter you're good to go. It was incredibly gorgeous, thank god we bought a panoramic camera!

[KTP]

Thanks. I do worry a bit about getting cabin fever in the winter. I doubt I would turn in to Sarah Palin though. (I wouldn't mind getting some moose meat however...hmmm...)

We probably wouldn't *have* to get jobs, as our plans call for having a decent amount of savings by then. Obviously the zero taxes and the dividend would help with that, offset by the higher price of stuff. We are both techy types though..wife software architect/engineer, me electrical engineer (soon). It might not be too hard to do some remote contract work for a company back in the states or something, especially software. What else are you going to do when there is 5 feet of snow outside (except that which you are thinking right now).

[gambler2075]

Do any of you call Alaska home? Do you like it?

I've always wanted to visit AK. Never have so far. Whenever I think of Alaska I am reminded of "Into The Wild"... probably one of my favorite movies.

YouTube - Into the Wild - Trailer

g

[bjl584]

It may not be nice, but you'll probably not care. The cold eventually numbs the brain, hence you get the likes of Sarah Pahlin. Enjoy!

I usually lean conservative in my thinking, but that is funny.