Last week it was the tropics. This week investors try to ride out the storm on Wall Street.

The stock market tumbled over 500 points after the well known financial institution Lehman Brothers announced it was filing for bankruptcy and another big name, Merrill Lynch,  will be taken over by Bank of America.

While Lowcountry residents may seem far removed from the fall of these financial giants, the news could affect your retirement in a big way.

However investment advisors say you should be fine if you just stick to your current savings plan and keep your 401k just as it is because as it always does, the stock market will rebound. 

One example of a major U.S. banking crisis occured in 1933 during the Great Depression.

"The last time we had a banking crisis that lasted an average of 18.68 months and 20 months after the initial crisis began in 1933 the stock market was up 132 percent,"  said Ned Philbeck, a Mt. Pleasant investment advisor.

Philbeck says folks who sold stocks during that crisis did not get that 132 percent rate of return when the market rebounded. In this current economic climate he tells his clients to just stay put and don't make any changes to your investments.

"We advise them to stick to their model portfolio and the best way to have a successful portfolio is not to change in down markets," according to Philbeck.

Because he says time is always on an investor's side.

"Time takes a lot of the risk out of investing," Philbeck said.

And in time the market will come back. However the crisis is not averted yet. AIG, the world’s largest insurance company is also in trouble and is seeking emergency funding from the Federal Reserve.

Philbeck says you should keep in mind that your 401k is a savings tool not an investment vehicle where you expect to get a tremendous amount of return

Philbeck also says Americans aren't saving enough and we're trying to build up our savings through the market return.