What have you personally learned from the current crisis?

Guesthouse

I'm tempted to say "nothing" since the whole world of shares, stocks, world markets etc. banking & savings has almost always seemed like one one big game played by people with no discernible job description against regular citizens (who invariably lose) and nothing in the past 2-3 weeks has suggested anything to the contrary. £17k an hour anyone?? banks setting the rate at which they loan to one another but not trusting each other to loan the money anyway, betting that a bank (or entire country) will fall over and then talking it down....

However in the interests of being positive I will say that I'm glad i spend my reckless developmental years living it up and generally not bothering about anything because if I'd saved hard (or even lightly) I would probably still have my family, be working and not in a position to enjoy it any more than I do.

Plasticman

slipthru wrote: »

To trust my own instinct and not run with the crowd, i could have been waiting to get money back like everyone else.

To run with the crowd and not trust my instincts. If I'd run with the crowd I would have taken my money out of Icesave before they went bust...........

X123

amistupid wrote: »

I've personally learned that the noticeable drop in postings on this site between 8pm and 9pm tonight prove that Eastenders and Coronation Street are still far more important than any mere global crisis.

Very True! And that I really aught to have booked that trip to America before my Icesave ISA vanished....:rolleyes: doh!

briona

That hindsight is a wonderful thing!

That I should choose a savings account more carefully in future! That an extra 1% interest per annum is probably NOT worth sending most of my savings into limbo for!

That I don't actually panic quite as much as I would have thought when reality bites... so it would seem that every cloud does indeed have a silver lining! I am remarkably calm about this whole Iceland fiasco. Now, anyone fancy a trip to Reykjavik?

belfastgirl23

That going with my own instincts and trying to behave ethically really is the best policy even if it costs a bit more. I debated changing my mortgage last time round cos Nationwide's rates weren't as attractive as some of the attention grabbers but decided I wanted to stay with a building society ethos. I felt a bit non-MS at the though at the thought of the extra money. Not any more...

justaquickie

... and bicycle clips. :rolleyes:

amcluesent

Clown is a liar. Oh, wait. We knew that before...

It's a mugs game to work, save and invest, since the socialists will steal it all from you anyway. Also, demand compo and wave some shrouds, the government will cave in!

pumpndump

That most private investors are stuck on stupid and should not be allowed anywhere near the stock market. Thursday and Friday of last week these swabs stressed out our staff big time. You know the type. He buys 200 shares in Tesco and he thinks he's !!!!ing Warren Buffett. And if stock markets all over the world collapse, it's all the fault of our staff.

1echidna

Truth really can be stranger than fiction. Who would have dreamt of events culminating in billions being poured into leading UK banks by the government. I count myself very lucky not to have lost £16k in an Icesave account, but notwithstanding feel I took reasonable care in the way I dealt with a £250k inheritance over the past 18 months. I also limited my exposure to equity based investment to about 25% which has restricted my losses in this area although clearly in time these investments may recover. I hope what I have learnt is to continue to think for myself in financial matters in a world full of salesmen, advisors, theorists and other pundits.

captainkevos

I've learnt to take some of the "advice" on this site with a larger pinch of salt I reiterate information which I read on the site in April .....

In the unlikely event of problems; how would the passport protection work?
This is something we’ve raised with Icesave; below is its response, which was backed up by a document from the Icelandic Financial Services Association; confirming the legal strength of the info.
“Icelandic banks pay into a fund which is set aside to be paid out for compensation should it be needed – the UK scheme doesn’t have this and could therefore technically take longer than the Icelandic scheme!” (Note from Martin: The UK scheme is set up to call money in if needed, rather than work on a pot of money system).
All talk of compensation schemes is purely hypothetical because they have never been used, but given the above, there is no reason to assume that the Icelandic scheme would be any more complicated or take longer.
In the extremely unlikely event that the Icelandic government wasn’t in a position to meet all claims, all the Nordic countries have an arrangement where they will step in and help any one of the participating countries that are in trouble so there is an additional layer of reassurance and cover.
If you could make it clear that Icesave customers are fully protected up to £35k the same as customers of any UK bank and that they will be paid as quickly I’d be very grateful!”