They are as big as the peak but they are not bad. I wasn't complaining about the last ones my family received. $1,654 per person was certainly above average.
Posted on 04/16/2008 8:15:37 AM PDT by YankeeMagic
They are as big as the peak but they are not bad. I wasn't complaining about the last ones my family received. $1,654 per person was certainly above average.
It should be a good year. It is a 5 year average on earnings.
But most of the earning now are from income of the fund, now over $38 billion. Oil income through the state was only 10% of the 2007 earning. The program has been set up to keep growing without being so dependent on the oil revenues.
http://www.apfc.org/iceimages/ReportsPublications/2007_AR.pdf
“The program has been set up to keep growing without being so dependent on the oil revenues’
What? A government with fiscal sense! Holy smoked salmon, there is hope for us all.
Q: Why did Alaskans create the Fund?
A: During construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the 1970’s, oil companies flooded state coffers with money paid for leases to explore and secure drilling rights. The Legislature spent all $900 million of that initial lease money within a few years. Alaskans realized that they were about to receive a great deal more money from oil when the pipeline was complete. They wished to better safeguard the robust income forthcoming from the pipeline, but the state constitution did not allow for dedicated funds. So Alaskans voted in 1976 to amend the constitution to put at least 25% of the oil money into a dedicated fund: the Permanent Fund. This would save money for future generations, which would no longer have oil as a source of income. In 1976 Governor Hammond proposed a constitutional amendment to create the Fund. The 9th Alaska Legislature modified the governor's legislation and placed it as a ballot proposition in the 1976 General Election. It passed by a margin of two to one.
http://www.apfc.org/theapfc/faq.cfm
Q: Could there be no dividend in some years?
A: Yes. The Alaska Constitution states that the Fund's principal cannot be spent. The dividend can only be paid from Fund earnings. If the earnings reserve is zero or negative on June 30, no money can be paid out. APFC Trustees are proposing a better method for determining Fund annual payout that would require a change to the constitution through a vote of the people. The Percent of Market Value (POMV) payout method would remove the distinction between principal and earnings, treating the Permanent Fund as one pot of money. Five percent of the Fund's total market value could be paid out each year.
Someone will probably expound on this topic if they havent yet.
YM, you need a new strategy for dealing with your relatives. I recommend that you stop taking them so seriously. Mrs. whipitgood and I have learned to give each other a significant look and then burst out laughing whenever our (conservative moonbat) parents start something like this. Rehearsing is a blast.
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