There are several things you must remember when setting up a retirement account investment portfolio. Many people believe they understand investments and like to manage their own retirement investment accounts, such as a Roth IRA or a 401K plan. There is a large difference in setting up a regular brokerage account and setting up a retirement account plan. The retirement account portfolio should 
always be a safer portfolio, one with very few if any speculative names.
One major sin that many people commit in retirement account planning is having too much of your retirement invested in one stock. There were a large amount of people who lost much of their life savings when Enron collapsed a few years ago, which taught us a lot about just how important diversification is in a retirement portfolio. Even if you work for the company, do not let that one company's stock take up any more than 20% of your retirement portfolio. Diversification among assets is the number one thing you must remember!
The retirement account portfolio is where it matters most what age you are and what your risk factors are when planning your portfolio. If you are 60 years old and will be needing your retirement portfolio money very soon, large amounts of bonds and CD's should be in your account. If you are 22 years and just leaving college, you have a chance to let your account ride for a while, so mutual funds and some individual stocks can be more than half of your portfolio. Along the same lines, under no circumstance should you ever invest on margins in any 401K account. You are not allowed to invest on margin in IRA accounts, but some 401K's may allow it. Do not use this very risky practice!
The bottom line is the retirement account is what you have been working toward your entire life. The first concern of a retirement account is wealth preservation, with the secondary goal being to maximize your gains through investing. You worked hard for this money, invest in your retirement portfolio wisely!
Retirement accounts are not the place to try to daytrade or swingtrade. Sure there are some people who have made money doing this, but there have also been many who have been hurt very badly by doing this. A retirement account portfolio should be left alone the majority of the time, only trading when absolutely necessary. If you feel like you need to daytrade or try out a new penny stock, do it in a regular speculative brokerage account.
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