To worry about how the heck my public sector pension is going to pay out when I'm old given that the UK almost certainly won't exist by then

Most public sector pensions are unfunded! There is no pot paid into by the members!

Yes it is. Public sector pensions are paid by today's taxpayers, there is no fund. Private sector pensions are underfunded to the tune of around £1.3 trillion - no matter whether the UK remains whole or not, it is becoming a major problem that is not being addressed.

Most people think the state pension is the major issue - I think the public sector pensions are a ticking time-bomb!

These pensions are very different to defined contribution private sector pensions where individuals have their own pot.

Also no chance of a border poll in NI this parliament. Have you heard the words of the PM and the Irish govt are only asking for the deliberately vague terms and conditions calling a border poll to be clarified is as far as they have gone. Unless we want a repeat of Brexit a plan for sorting health, education, currency transitions and yes even pensions would need sorted.

Objectively we live at the best time ever in History.

And yet, some folks are still not happy, It appears that humans are desperate to find something to make themselves miserable.

Considering the advances in medicine, housing, technology, comfort etc we are better off than any previous generation has ever been. And yet, some folks are still determined to gloom.

There wasn't an old age pension until 1908, and that was means tested for very poor over 70s. Before that, you worked til you died or you relied on the workhouse or family to keep you.

You'll be better off than that.

The pension system no longer works. It's dragging us all down.

60% of benefits paid out is in pensions. We cannot keep doing it.

For those who don’t know, I believe op is referring to the Celtic nations getting their act together and calling time on the United Kingdom. Or as they say, Westminster.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62enegxyl9o

I have long thought that combined they could do this, unite and recreate an older people and different power in these islands. Given the way Westminster has always treated the rest of us, good luck to them. I wish they’d take northern England along with them too.

We are living too long. Dying earlier is a solution!

Would Scotland be a net contributor to the EU?

Life expectancy in 1908 was 45 for men and 49 for women. Pensions weren’t needed because people didn’t live long enough to need one. Comparing today’s issues with then is just stupid, all those advances in medicine and technology mean we live way longer and that brings with it its own set of problems. If you’re 70 and can’t afford food, it matters not if you can access health advances does it?

If you are worried the uk wont exist you probably won't need that pension

People are costing the state significantly more than in the past, due to an increasing aging population, rising healthcare demands and welfare changes.

This was written by the separatists! If Indy happens (and only a minority want it in Scotland) the Scottish economy would be totally f’ed. Lose 15% of your countries income, lose quite a lot of your financial services sector, take on a vast debt with no lender of last resort all while trying to get your deficit down from 12% where it is now to 3% and launching your own currency in the hope of joining the EU, which would also require a hard border with your biggest trading partner? Sounds great!

So the state pension would have to drop at least 15% due to losing the Barnett formula. And the NHS pension isn’t funded at all in the way that private DB pensions are. Does anyone seriously think the pitiful amounts put away by workers and the NHS are enough to fund the riches paid out? The shortfall (which is HUGE) is made up by the state. So in a situation where the country is utterly skint, every single budget is being slashed the state isn’t going to be popular if it is throwing money around topping up wildly generous NHS pension terms that were promised when Scotland was in a totally different financial landscape.

Hopefully Scots are intelligent enough to see the utter binfire that Indy will be - I’ll be off as my finance job will head south immediately - but if you seriously thing there’s a chance of Indy, yes, you won’t be getting the riches promised OP.

Landlords certainly do. Those forced into private tenancies with no bank of mum and dad most certainly do not. That was the baby boomer period. Similarly anyone who actually tried to work hard and gain qualifications in a time when education costs and minimum wage has doubled and swallowed up the enhanced wages for skilled work.

Scotland hasn’t a hope in hells chance of meeting the fiscal requirements to get in the EU for at least 20 years. It has to make a success of itself without the EU before they’ll let it in. The difficulty it faces that the former soviet nations don’t it that it will start life with a vast debt, no lender of last resort to help get a low interest rate and being used to living high on the hog on money redistributed from the vast taxes raised by the city of London being one of the biggest finance centres in the world.

If it wants Indy it’s got to start living within its means, and from living here I can tell you they chuck money at benefits claimants like it’s water.

Not sure there's any 'obviously' about it.
There's already quite a queue of existing countries waiting to join, with a process that takes many years.

As Scotland would be a completely new country, I suspect the EU would want to see plenty of evidence that it can fully run it's affairs and is financially stable.

One of the other things people fail to appreciate with the EU is that the UK - being an established member - had quite a few privileges that new members wouldn’t. We’d have to join Schengen and the Euro. Neither of which are all that popular. And joining the euro would be incredibly difficult for a country in the economic doldrums.

Huh? Pension contributions were taken from my Civil Service salary every month, just like income tax.
Now I’m retired, I receive my small pension, as that was rather the point. (Just a weeny amount monthly, as I only worked a few years. A twenty+ year career would mean a decent amount, no doubt)

If Scotland did have true independence then there would be no more Barnett formula , last annual payment was 45 billion from the UK treasury. Wales and NI get approx half that. It’s just a point amongst lots of others made by people who know more than I do on this thread.

Your contributions paid into the scheme. That doesn't mean you have a special pot of money just for you. Read the terms and conditions of your pensions people!

The biggest issue with Scottish independence is the uncertainty, economic instability and general chaos it would likely cause for at least a decade. Lots of unknowns and negotiations would play out in a shit show as usual. Leadership in Scotland is absolutely dire as it is in WM.

But if you look on a longer term basis, there are lots of reasons to be optimistic about Scottish independence. It’s looking more and more likely with each subsequent generation hence why WM won’t entertain the idea. Scotland is basically trapped in a so called union of equals with no right to decide its future. Utter insanity and this only strengthens the resolve for independence.

However, what pro independence supporters don’t really acknowledge is the unknowns and economic shock which could take decades to recover from. But there is absolutely no question that Scotland could and would be a strong independent country, it just may involve a lot of pain for a long time to get there.

My mum moved home to southern Ireland having worked all her life in the UK. She currently receives a UK pension and is topped up by the Irish government to match the Irish pension.

I assume it would work the same for pensioners in NI if they unify. Not sure about Scotland though.

As you say it could all change with a Reform gov.

I don't think Mumsnet staff are allowed to sleep whilst working.

I totally agree. Give Indy Scotland 20 years and it could get back to the position it’s in now financially, then forge on and do better than the UK. But living standards would plummet in the 20 years inbeteeen as Scotland wrestles with vast loan repayments at sky high interest rates because who on earth would lend to someone who has maxed out their credit cards and goes well into their overdraft every month?

If the Yes tribe laid all cards on the table I’d be happy for an Indy ref, but it’ll be the Brexit bus equivalent again, with Indy reckoned to be 8 times as damaging as Brexit.

State pensions. Every month all countries in the UK pull NIC contributions in from their taxpayers, then pay them out to their pensioners. In and out, in and out. Let’s be clear, if England is pulling in NICs from their contributors every month, it SURE AS HECK isn’t going to pay pensions to England and Scotland and N Ireland and Wales! The new governments pull in their own NICs (or equivalent) from their own taxpayers and pay out to their own pensioners.

This isn’t even a point of debate.

None of the signs point to an Irish border poll this parliament as there is zero evidence that a majority would vote in favour. One of the major failings of those who advocate for a united Ireland outside the UK is that they have no idea how the division of public sector liabilities would go. It's like the shit show without a plan that Brexit was but on steroids.