Young investor here (30’s) and cautiously watching all this play out.
I’m currently DCAing $4,000 a month into VOO and have been since the greatest bull run in history post COVID. Sitting with about $95k total in my portfolio with an emergency fund that can last me a year or two unemployed in cash.
As someone who has never lived through a financial crisis I’m getting concerned about such a heavy investment of my take home (4k out of $7k a month) with possibility of layoffs. I’m a software engineer and the market is rough as hell from what I’ve heard anecdotally.
My play currently is to keep the $4k a month DCA into the S&P and sing god bless America the whole way down hoping for an early retirement after the show is over and hold onto my butt that my company doesn’t go out of business or do layoffs.
How do you mentally prepare for big drops and stay steady with your strategy?
Am I overestimating my risk tolerance and should shove some of the income into a money market or hard cash or hang on?
Advice from older people who have been through hard times appreciated, I’m getting married in a few weeks and planning to start a family