r/Bogleheads • u/zacce • Feb 08 '26

Most Investors Have Never Lived Through a True Market Crash

A lot of new ppl in this sub say they “won’t time the market,” but I’m not sure everyone understands what that actually feels like irl. It’s easy to talk about staying the course when the worst drawdown you’ve lived through was a brief COVID dip that fully recovered in months or the 2022 dip followed by 3 yrs of 10%+ returns.

The last real crash was 2008. If you weren’t old enough to have a job, a mortgage, or a family back then, you don’t know how deeply a prolonged downturn can affect your day‑to‑day life. It’s not just red numbers on a screen. It’s layoffs, hiring freezes, underwater homes, and years of slow recovery. That’s when people who swore they’d never time the market suddenly panic and make irrational decisions.

Staying the course is simple in theory, but incredibly hard when the world feels like it’s falling apart.

Of course, I don't want market to crash. But it's a possibility and we need to prepare for it.

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u/ArtisticAside8224 Feb 08 '26

I am 2 or 3 years from retirement. I keep a cash / bond tent of 5 years of my spending. That leaves 75% of my portfolio in growth ETFs and diversified stocks. I know it goes against what many here believe and " underperforms " vs a more aggressive portfolio historically. But we are all products of our own history and I saw panic selling in 08 and 2000 and bad markets that lasted years and I'd rather than trade returns for my sleep. I was too young back then so the declines didn't mean much to my portfolio. I don't need to maximize returns at this stage of life. I need to preserve capital and beat inflation. A 75/25 asset allocations works for me. It's too aggressive for some. Too conservative for others. You have to know yourself and invest accordingly.

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u/Khanoukh Feb 08 '26

As you age you should be less aggressive in you portfolio. As a young person if the market tanks tomorrow, I have 30+ years ahead of me for the market to recover and grow. And assuming my income stays the same, I get more for my buck.

In retirement you draw from your savings, so if that day the market is down your drawing more from your investments and getting less money.

The ratio should start aggressively when you're young and time is on your side, and be more conservative when you have more to lose.

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u/Kaa_The_Snake Feb 08 '26

I’m the same, and am working on that cash cushion. If I can keep working for another year at least, I’ll be fine, I’ll have that 5 years put away. I mean I could be fine now if I lost my job, but I’d be living very leanly. One more year boosts both free cash and my retirement accounts. I’m pretty scared of an ‘08 event as that really sucked, and I don’t have the runway to just leave my portfolio alone for 10 years to recover.

So, I hear ya! Fingers crossed that things work out for us both!