Spread Your Bets

With 401(k) plans, many own too much of their employer's stock. Here's what to do about it

Like the quickest kid in the hunt on Easter Sunday, many investors end up with a lot of eggs in one basket. It's not really their fault. The rapid rise of stock-based compensation at work is a primary culprit--and who's going to knock programs that grant stock options and otherwise stuff employee accounts with company shares through stock-purchase, profit-sharing and 401(k) plans? The problem is that many folks end up with their retirement dreams tethered to a single stock.

Now repeat after me: No stock is bulletproof. Not GE. Not Big Blue. Not Ma Bell. Not [your company here]. Some are...

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