PLANO - One group of North Texans who would prefer never having to know where economic rock bottom is: those about to retire.

Their portfolios are disintegrating, in some cases, only months before they reach the "golden age."

"It's a serious concern and it's kind of new territory really, the way the market has plunged," Dick Bartoloneo said.

"I'm very worried that it won't bounce back like it used to," said Barbara Bartoloneo.

The Bartoloneos are among Americans whose retirement plans lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months.

"Whenever there has been a big drop, traditionally, there's an upswing. So it's just a matter of waiting it out," Dick Bartoloneo said.

Pat Jackson is retiring from the JC Penney company in three weeks. She told us she's built up enough of a nest egg to retire now. Unfortunately, that's not the case for one of her close friends.

"She said she looked at her 401K and it had gone down $20,000. And she was just as nervous as could be. You can't help it. That's everything that you work for and build for. You see that dwindling and it's just very depressing."

Pat's husband Joe, a former computer programmer and college professor, says when he saw the economic meltdown coming, he sold his stocks and moved the cash into other income-generating funds.

"It's going to be a long hard road. The stock market is going to go down a lot more than it is now, before it comes back," he said.

"I just hope that the market comes back. I just hope," said Barbara Bartoloneo.

E-mail sstoler@wfaa.com.