Effect of Scottish Independence Vote

ColdIron

TCA wrote: »

I will be diversifying my portfolio of tins but my gut is telling me that the cans of beans with the sausages, will be a surefire winner

Baked beans and mini scotch eggs surely

TCA

ColdIron wrote: »

mini scotch eggs surely

Not worth the risk. Scotch in the case of the famous eggs is short for scotched and has nothing to do with Scotland and was very likely invented by a London department store. If word got out that someone was hoarding an English invention in the post-apocalyptic independent Scotland, then they could befall the same fate as the No voters!

incandescent

zagubov wrote: »

Saw a lot of anonymous supposed pro-indy posters spouting immature names but no credible threats. Who are these people? Real "Yes" campaigners? Nobody knows.

The "Yes" campaign runs a tight ship and denounces eejits that spout racist nonsense.

Very underwhelming.

I'm afraid that just isn't true. There are a disappointingly large number of well known pro-independence folk who spend an inordinate of time online abusing everyone else. Anyone who regularly uses twitter or any of the political forums will be only too well aware of this. And if the SNP has denounced the cybernats, it's news to me.

Still no answer to my actual question, I see.

incandescent

TCA wrote: »

As for your questions, I'd liberate any cash you hold in any bank located in Scotland. It could just disappear when the banks fail. If your shares are in Scottish companies, get shot of them. Same reasoning. The English property market is due to crash so don't invest there. I'd invest the lot in tinned food. Once Trident goes we'll be a sitting duck for the communists. Nuclear winters will follow and all that will survive will be cockroaches and those of us with pre-prepared underground shelters. This is where tinned food will be worth its weight in gold. I will be diversifying my portfolio of tins but my gut is telling me that the cans of beans with the sausages, will be a surefire winner. But don't tell everyone or you'll start a run on the supermarkets.

There is a strong chance we'll end up with a different currency very quickly. Even the Yes campaigners openly admit they see a currency union as a temporary measure.

If that happens then nobody will be able to predict the effects on prices, wages, government spending or business. And that's before we consider the effect on public spending when a post-indy government has to explain that Scotland has a bigger deficit than the UK and won't be able to support current public spending never mind fulfil all the promises that have been made recently.

If you think I'm the only person who will hedge against this, you are mistaken.

incandescent

You would think by now that independence supporters would have figured out that the best way to persuade everyone else to vote their way would be to answer questions honestly and properly and demonstrate that they have actually thought it through and show things will be okay.

But no, they continue to make ad hominem attacks and smear everyone who asks a question as being negative or less Scottish than them.

That's not going to work.

TCA

incandescent wrote: »

But no, they continue to make ad hominem attacks and smear everyone who asks a question as being negative or less Scottish than them.

LOL. Away and get a grip on yourself. You didn't just ask a question, you posted a lot of rubbish about pro-independence keyboard warriors seeking to punish No voters. And nobody smeared or attacked you.

Your viewpoint is one of political and economic Armageddon if a Yes vote wins through and yet you wonder how this could possibly be construed as negative? Go figure. There probably aren't going to be any revelations between now and 18th September, so I doubt your views will change. Take heart in the fact that independence day would be the best part of two years away, so you'll have plenty time to liquidate your Scottish assets in the event that enough No voters are scared into voting Yes because someone on the internet called them a less than Scottish traitor.

incandescent

TCA wrote: »

LOL. Away and get a grip on yourself. You didn't just ask a question, you posted a lot of rubbish about pro-independence keyboard warriors seeking to punish No voters. And nobody smeared or attacked you.

Your viewpoint is one of political and economic Armageddon if a Yes vote wins through and yet you wonder how this could possibly be construed as negative? Go figure. There probably aren't going to be any revelations between now and 18th September, so I doubt your views will change. Take heart in the fact that independence day would be the best part of two years away, so you'll have plenty time to liquidate your Scottish assets in the event that enough No voters are scared into voting Yes because someone on the internet called them a less than Scottish traitor.

It is a fact of life on many forums and on twitter that if you post pro-union opinion you immediately get loads of cybernats attacking you. Of course you haven't experienced this because you don't post pro-union opinions. That doesn't make it any less true. For goodness sake, just look at what Ben bloody Fogle had to put up with simply for tweeting some nice sentiments about Scotland, or the attacks on Eddie Izzard. It's routine.

And I've never said there would be financial armageddon, but I have pointed out that there are massive unknowns that the Yes camp have steadfastly refused to even attempt to answer. And there are vast holes in their spending plans.

I am not simply going to take it on faith that everything will be okay from a movement that either hasn't thought its plans through, or has and doesn't want to acknowledge the inherent problems.

And that's why I did ask a question: how to best protect my savings from these potential downsides, be they tax, inflation, currency transaction costs or cash-strapped Scottish governments doing what Greece, Cyprus and other governments did when they ran out of money.

It's a valid question and one many accountants are going to find themselves dealing with this year.

TCA

incandescent wrote: »

And that's why I did ask a question: how to best protect my savings from these potential downsides, be they tax, inflation, currency transaction costs or cash-strapped Scottish governments doing what Greece, Cyprus and other governments did when they ran out of money.

How do you protect your savings now from tax and inflation? I wouldn't foresee any required approach being different to what you do now.

I predict an independent Scotland would use sterling, currency union or no currency union, so I don't think there will be fx costs.

Why do you think an independent Scotland would be cash-strapped? The UK is £1.3 trillion in debt right now, if that's not cash-strapped then I don't know what is. Why are you not panicking already?

incandescent

TCA wrote: »

How do you protect your savings now from tax and inflation? I wouldn't foresee any required approach being different to what you do now.

I predict an independent Scotland would use sterling, currency union or no currency union, so I don't think there will be fx costs.

Why do you think an independent Scotland would be cash-strapped? The UK is £1.3 trillion in debt right now, if that's not cash-strapped then I don't know what is. Why are you not panicking already?

I currently protect myself from inflation by investing as much as I can in stocks and funds rather than cash bank accounts. It works pretty well, but could be killed be foreign exchange costs and exchange rate fluctuations if we have a different currency.

Tax? Mostly via ISA and SIPP at the moment. But what I meant by this is that Scotland's deficit is currently larger than the rest of the UK's and the political parties are all making massive spending promises. Coupled with increased borrowing costs, at least in the short term, that means cuts or increased taxes, or both. Scotland has already delayed austerity, but independence would make it unavoidable.

As for Scotland using the pound outside a formal union - how on earth can you describe that as independence? We would have absolutely no influence, never mind control, over fiscal policy. I thought independence was supposed to be about taking control of these things? Ask some Greek people whether they'd advise this course of action.

BobQ

The idea that anything is going to happen quickly on the currency issues after a Yes vote is fanciful. Stage 1 will be total disbelief that people could be so stupid as to have voted Yes in the first place. Stage 2 will be negotiations with the UK Treasury and will take months. During that time you can move your savings abroad well before Stage 3 when the Scottish Government announces that all bank accounts in Scotland will be converted to Scottish Pounds or Euros or Salmonds or whatever they will be called. This will not happen quickly. The SNP has not planned that far ahead.