...retirement tied up in Wachovia stock when the market crashed in 2008. I never asked how much he lost, but I'm pretty sure it was 7 figures. He had been a successful pharmaceutical salesman for a long time and I assume he had invested successfully over the years. Why he was so heavily invested in one company in his late 70s I'll never understand, but I suppose it was easy to fall into a sense of security given how hot the economy had been prior to the crash. And, it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway since the entire market crashed. Anyone who was heavily invested in anything tied to stocks probably got crushed.