It’s been said time and time again, but it bears saying again.  Do not own any significant quantity of your own company’s stock.  The fact that you work at said company means you depend on them for income – don’t leave your investments in their hands too.  Unless *perhaps* you’re in extremely upper management, and know all the ins and out of the business, don’t take the risk.

Just ask employees of Lehman Brothers.  Reportedly, 25% of the company’s stock is held by employees.  You know, that same stock that took a nosedive off a high cliff due to that whole bankruptcy thing.  Not only will these folks probably lose their jobs – but their company stock is all but worthless.  That’s a double wammy that’s going to be really tough to recover from.

If you want to own a bit of company stock, that’s fine.  But keep it under, say, 5% of your TOTAL portfolio.  That means company stock in a regular purchase plan, and retirement accounts.  Keep your position small, because you don’t want to count on one company for too many things.