Exclusive: WaMu Insiders Claim Execs Ignored Warnings, Encouraged Reckless Lending

The Hugheses said it took a long time to save that money, and that "it's absolutely horrifying to go from something to really nothing. .. then have to start all over, change all of your plans, your entire life."

And they said it shouldn't have happened. Tedda told ABC News that she did her research by diligently reading research and investor reports and checked the stock price daily. She said that up until the end, even hours before the bank collapsed, WaMu's investment division kept assuring shareholders that they had more than enough money to weather the storm.

"We understood that there was a risk," she said, "but we didn't think that the company was just going to go under."

"It felt like robbery. It felt like a violation," said Tedda.

The Hugheses said they're scared and angry, their anger amplified by the fact that WaMu executives like former CEO Kerry Killinger took home more than $51 million in cash and stock from 2004 to 2007, while they lost everything.

ABC News' Arash Ghadishah and Beth Tribolet contributed to this report.