I love the idea of a 100 year crash. It makes the market seem mysterious and inexorable, a force of nature that is completely uncontrollable.

Hearkening to the image of the 100 year flood or the 17 year locust, the 100 year crash seems to make sense. After all, seasons go in cycles, oceans rise and recede, and it seems natural to assume that our economy's cycles of expansion and recession would hit the occasional neap tide, resulting in massive growth or massive reduction. Best of all, the 100 year crash gives us the idea that financial crises are nobody's fault: they are part of an eternal process, like the movement of Apollo's chariot across the heavens or the seasonal chill caused by Persephone's return to Hades.

It isn't all that hard to figure out how the idea of the 100 year crash came about. Right now, we are a few weeks away from the 101st anniversary of the 1907 stock market crash; a couple of weeks after that, we will have the 79th anniversary of Black Sunday, the crash that signaled the start of the Great Depression.

Bear Stearns Cos. was able to survive many recessions, inflations and wars. Yet, it was a credit crunch that took down the bank. Now, it looks like thousands will lose their jobs -- as well as their savings.

What can you learn from this nightmare? What if your employer falls to pieces? I had a chance to talk to two experts. Here's what they have to say:

Rich Gee (who operates Rich Gee Coaching):

"Always have your resume up to date -- you never know if and when you will run into someone with a job opportunity. The Bear Sterns' employees must go into overdrive -- get it written -- hopefully with a resume writer - to ensure that the possible "stigma" can be ameliorated with fancy wording and deft writing.

In case you haven't watched anything other than HGTV for the past few days, the once-proud investment banking giant Bear Stearns has collapsed, going from $150 a share to $6 in less than a year.

Of course, top executives will be fine. But today's Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that the deal for the firm to be acquired by JPMorgan Chase for $2 per share will cost many employees their jobs -- and their retirement savings. Bear Stearns employees own about one-third of the company, and have seen their shares lose more than 90% of their value.

Of course my heart goes out to the Bear Stearns employees, but this is getting to be a familiar tale: company goes bust and workers are hit with a double whammy: no more job, worthless 401(k). Remember the video of the Enron human resources representative telling employees they should put their entire 401(k) in Enron stock?

Here's how I look at it: As an employee, your future is already bound tightly enough to the future of your company. If the company prospers, your job will be secure, you'll be in line for raises/promotions, and your resume will be improved by the recognition of your employer's great success.

With your retirement money, you should be looking to diversify away from your exposure to the company -- Since your job is probably your biggest supplier of wealth, you don't need to own a large amount of stock in the company too.