A salutory lesson...

It seems that advice given to stand and presenter Frank Skinner did not pan out as he hoped. Frank, if only you'd read SPI, you'd have known to insist on diversity!

"A couple of years ago I invested my entire life savings with a leading bank. I felt like I'd joined an elite club, because I was with prestigous bankers and therefore my money would be safe. I told them I wasn't a risk-taker and didn't want to accumulate any more money, but just wanted to make sure that what I had was safe.

They advised me to invest it all in one American company, AIG. I was very nervous about putting all my eggs in one basket so I asked them what the worst-case scenario would be if it all went wrong. My personal banker told me that at the very worst I could lose ten per cent, but that there was no way that would actually happen.

So when I read in the papers that AIG was in trouble I tried to contact my bank. I phoned and e-mailed them but it took them three weeks to get back to me, and when they did they told me the company's assets had been frozen. I said I wanted my money back, but they told me that was impossible and I really lost my rag. I wrote a letter of complaint to the bank, but they just wrote back saying, 'These are unusual circumstances. It's not our fault.'  I couldn't believe it. In the past, whenever I've read about people losing a load of money, I would think it served them right for being greedy and that they'd got their comeuppance. But I wasn't being greedy. I just wanted to protect what I had earned.

I told them that I wanted to take all my money out, and they said that if I did, then I probably wouldn't get very much – but they couldn't tell me exactly how much. I did have a few sleepless nights about it, thinking I would have to sell my flat. But, at the end of the day, I wasn't as upset as I should have been. I've known hard times and I definitely prefer being richer to poorer, but at least I can still work.

As it turned out, I got half my money back but the rest is frozen until 2012, and even then there is no guarantee that I will get it. I really don't like the idea of somebody telling me I can't have my money for another three years and then maybe not at all. I wish I'd put the whole lot in a box with a heavy lock on it.

The money I have got back, I've put into National Savings. I probably won't get any interest on it but I don't care. And if I do lose the rest of my life's savings, then I'll just sell all my possessions. If you see a big rush of Frank Skinner memorabilia on eBay, you'll know why! "

This is an edited extract from Frank's book Frank Skinner On The Road.