401(k) Investors Can Learn from Enron Meltdown, New Mexico Adviser Says.

Byline: Winthrop Quigley

Feb. 7--ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--Rule One of retirement investing: Diversify.

The lesson 401(k) investors should learn from the Enron disaster: See Rule One.

"Overconcentration in anything, whether it's your employer's stock or one sector of the market, is not the thing to do," said Peter Lehrman, a financial adviser with John Moore and Associates in Albuquerque.

Or, as your mother almost certainly told you, don't put your eggs in one basket.

It is a lesson investors periodically forget, then learn again, to their regret, Lehrman said.

Before the Enron meltdown, its employees had accumulated almost $2.3 billion in the company's 401(k) plan, almost 60 percent…