(MONEY Magazine) – In other made-up-holiday news, Ben Stein--writer, actor, Star Search judge--has been named chairman of National Retirement Planning Week, which kicks off on Nov. 17.

Q. You were good at holding on to your money on your quiz show Win Ben Stein's Money. So what should people do to protect their own nest eggs?

A. The watchword for intelligent retirement planning is diversification. I lost a fair amount in the stock market in the past few years, but I had a lot of real estate and some bonds, and they largely offset the losses.

Q. You wrote a book called How to Ruin Your Life.

A. My next book in that series will be called How to Ruin Your Financial Life. The best way to do that is to assume that the government or your employer or someone else is going to be responsible for your retirement.

Q. Do you worry that National Retirement Planning Week is getting too commercialized? People in my neighborhood are putting up decorations already.

A. You know, what's funny is that, though I'm Jewish, I'm a huge fan of Christmas lights. I have them up all over my house all year round. From now on I guess I'll call them my National Retirement Planning Week lights. --DAVID FUTRELLE