By: Maria Smith

The worst case scenario happened to a friend of mine – he took his 401K money – pretty much all of it and invested it in a business that was supposed to be a big money maker – but after they ordered and paid for the manufacturing machines, and before delivery, the company that made the machines went bankrupt. Getting back 10 cents on the dollar in bankruptcy court some time later. 15 years later he is 75 years old and still working, with no 401K… Remember – small businesses have a very high failure rate – and success or failure is not always dependent on your skills and abilities, lots of good people lose money every day on business deals that seemed good at the time.