And Another Thing | 18 October 2008

My attitude to money is simple. I want to think about it as little as possible. So I have arranged my life with this end in view. I work hard and spend less than I earn. I put aside sums for tax and VAT and do the returns promptly. I pay bills by return of post. I have never borrowed or had an overdraft, and paid off the only mortgage I ever had at the earliest possible date. I always say to the people who look after my savings: I am not greedy and don’t want a high return, just security and peace of mind. None of this did me the slightest good during the present crisis. I discovered my bankers had put the bulk of my money into a company (‘probably the safest investment in the world, Mr Johnson’) which had to be ‘rescued’, and for a fortnight I thought I had lost all.