Alaska seems great, but . . . (Anchorage, Nome: real estate, apartment, lease)

[Gandhi the baby deer]

Isn't it about impossible to be rich in Alaska? I see all those guys living in Nome making lots of money diving underwater to suck up gold in freezing water but then having to live in menial conditions afterwards. Everything seems so unavailable to buy and expensive. The freedom part is wonderful. And the tax rebate and all. How much are Alaskan citizens getting back nowadays? And can a person homestead property? Can you homestead and buy the mineral lease below that?

[Dakster]

I only see a couple of people potentially getting rich on Bering Sea Gold and even they have rough patches. Please elaborate on that. I see more people going broke than getting rich. The real gold mine is the Bar in Town and whoever supplies the miner's with supplies in Nome. I am sure the gold buyer does OK too.

Just so I understand, what is your meaning of "rich"? or lots of money.

Rich to me would making over $250k a year. The only people that remotely come close are the OWNERS of the Christine Rose THIS YEAR. Although I bet that the senior deck hand, Cody, will probably do OK this season. But remember they struck out in the short winter season and they needed a new backhoe. In addition they had a mountain of debt to overcome.

To me the "gold count" doesn't mean squat. I want to know take home after expenses...

I just don't see the get rich part of it. I only watch because I like the drama. Same thing with Gold Rush and Jungle Gold. Kind curious how the AU Grabber does it's first season. Finally got a decent clean out this last episode, and has found $100k in gold. But he has to make $600k to pay off the equipment and then you have to add in operating expenses... That dredge when running has to use monumental amounts of fuel per hour, between getting to the claim, running the backhoe, running the sluice box, etc... And he has deckhands to split the take with.

Just seems like every time any of the gold miners start to get ahead, something breaks or the gold quits and everything you made gets thrown back in to find more gold. A vicious cycle.

[richelles]

The only people getting rich off Bering Sea Gold are the producers who are raking in the revenue from the various cable channels who send the show your way. If you pay any attention to the size of the production crew in their highly scripted minutes showing the behind the scenes episodes you'd realize the cost to produce the show. The make up people get thousands per week for just applying the proper makeup to the cast. I remember one show where I was in charge of getting a coyote to do what the story board called for and we even had a makeup person whose job it was to brush the coyote so the fur was always showing at it's prime. Then figure what the camera people who do the underwater shots get. I had a friend who did underwater work in warm water at an attraction mainly for advertising purposes and the ten or so people involved on his staff made tens of thousands per week. And most of the time they stand around waiting to do what is needed. That and the other mundane tasks required in Nome like making beds, cooking for the crowd and doing their laundry, in Nome, costs tons of cash. And then if you watch the credit lines at the end of each session there is an equally large staff that is far removed from Nome who must get paid for their contribution. And all this is cost before the producer gets a nickel in his pot to pay back all those involved in entertaining you between bathroom breaks (Also known as commercial breaks).

And all that is paid for by the entertaining commercials that take up about 15% of the air time and the hefty fees charged by your cable company for the shows you never watch. The dum dum actors get at a minimum $3500.00 a day and you could get rich on that except the shows for which you get famous for a day don't last long. The fickle audience wants to see something new and different and it's not going to be the same faces next time around. So your favorite character who is spitting out all the bleeped out profanity your kids keep asking about will soon be back doing something useful to make a living. And you ,the viewer, who runs to buy whatever the commercials are proclaiming you can't live without is paying for all the bad acting, and the fantasy you are believing every word of that comes across your screen. And the characters who are being featured will be watching the next new show from their bar stool alongside you. All the producers need is for you to watch the next fantasy and they'll stay rich.

[heathen]

Part of it is just different priorities and culture. There are plenty of well off people living in Alaska, as evidenced by the endless stream of brand new full size pickups hauling very expensive toys (quads, sleds, boats) along the highways on nice weekends. And then there's the high percentage of people here who own their own plane as well as enough land for a runway... Anchorage is a little more like the rest of the country, with large beautiful homes all over the hillside, and well dressed people driving BMWs between office jobs and trendy restaurants downtown. But even there, you can't accurately judge who has money and who doesn't.

[AKStafford]

Originally Posted by Gandhi the baby deer

And the tax rebate and all. How much are Alaskan citizens getting back nowadays? And can a person homestead property? Can you homestead and buy the mineral lease below that?

It's not a "tax rebate". Since we do not pay state taxes, there's nothing to rebate. It's a dividend off the earnings of the Alaska Permanent Fund. The Alaska Permanent Fund was set up to take a portion of the royalties paid by the oil companies to the state of Alaska and invest them. Today the Permanent Fund is valued at $49 billion dollars, spread out among stocks, bonds and real estate.
Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation
Each year a portion of the earnings of the fund are taken and averaged with the previous 5 year's returns and this amount is divided up between eligible Alaska residents. Last year that amount was $900. The year before that was $878.
Summary of Dividend Applications & Payments

Homesteading went away a long time ago.

[kbeefy]

Theres alot more people in Alaska than what you see on those silly shows.

[Rance]

Some of us are rich beyond our dreams. And it has nothing to do with money.

[hogfamily]

Originally Posted by Rance

Some of us are rich beyond our dreams. And it has nothing to do with money.

Yup!

[mizzile]

Rance is correct, but it's also noteworthy to see how well the top tier can live in Alaska. I always say Anchorage is a city for the very wealthy to enjoy and exploit. You'd have a great time here if you were rich. If you're not, well, there are way better places to live with most of the benefits you'll be able to access if you're lower tier in Alaska.

[Wynternight]

I have a nice car that gets me from place to place, a job I love, Aikido, guitar, and helicopter flying lessons that I love, an apartment that's all mine, and once I finish school I'll at least double my earning potential. What more do I need? I'd say I have an abundance of riches.