Day job: Senior attorney, Illinois Securities Department
Achievement: Recouped more than $1 billion for investors in settlements with major firms
Why he's a hero: Nix has spent 12 years battling financial bad guys and recovering investors' money from Wall Street giants.
In 2008, the ex-accountant helped negotiate a $1 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs after the market froze up for auction-rate securities it and other banks sold. In 2011 he got millions from Schwab to settle losses in its ostensibly safe YieldPlus bond fund.
Says Nix: "For some defrauded investors, recovering money is a matter of life and death."
Vanguard founder Jack Bogle and his diehard online followers were chosen as MONEY Heroes for their commitment to spreading investment advice that preaches simple, low-cost, diversified investing.
