Christa, Clark’s executive producer, nearly lost everything in one of her brokerage accounts recently. But thankfully she checks her account online several times a week and she prevented it from happening. While randomly checking her account, she saw that all of the stock in their pretty sizeable account was about to be sold. She immediately called the broker and learned that someone in Gainesville, Florida had hacked into her account and was getting ready to wire the money out. The really scary part is that there is no protection of brokerage accounts, but her company – eTrade – was able to get the money safely back in the account. So, if you don’t normally check your brokerage accounts, start! Often, if you’re not taking money out of these accounts, you don’t check them. But you need to. Brokerage firms are also starting “two-factor ID systems” using USB ports and other security methods to verify you are the account owner. But until then, monitor closely.