Have you spent your last dime? Even worse, has it been taken away from you? Would you say you are skint, down-and-out or just plain bankrupt?

If so, console yourself. Remain secure in the knowledge that you now join an elite group whose bankruptcies have been entered into the annals of history.

For starters there is Walt Disney. In 1923 he set off for Hollywood, after going bankrupt. Accompanying him were all his belongings: a couple of socks, underpants, a shirt, coat and one pair of pants.

Then there is Mark Twain. In 1894 after business disasters he declared bankruptcy. He had lost more than half a million dollars, in those days not a shabby sum at all.

The famous actor, Mickey Rooney, owed more than three hundred thousand dollars when he joined the ranks of the bankrupt in 1962. After generating a huge sum of twelve million dollars his total net worth remaining was a paltry fifteen hundred.

Eddie Fisher clocked up debts of almost a million dollars when he went bankrupt in 1972.

The renowned singer, Isaac Hayes, managed to amass a debt of some six million dollars when he declared himself bankrupt in 1976.

Just to make you feel so much better, even the King of England was not immune. Edward the Third went bankrupt as far back as 1339. He owed seven million dollars, a king’s ransom in those days. Despite being the monarch, he was unable to raise the cash.

So, I can confirm that you are in the very best of company: the rich, famous and royal. Hold your head up high. You probably did not go bankrupt in quite as spectacular a manner. Like me you were probably quite conservative in the money you ended up owing. You did not squander millions en route. You were possibly parsimonious, even prudent, albeit bankrupt.