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Yeah agreed I know some folks in that situation back in 08/09. I'm still in my 20's so not sure how I'm going to deal with investing as I get into my retirement years. It can be scary to have over half your retirement wipe out with no time for correction. Probably a more cash heavy asset allocation would be the solution. Not sure though.

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I think dividend income is a typical solution. It doesn't matter what the stock price does if the company continues paying dividends. If the company is strong and pays a dividend, the stock can be looked at like a low-yield bond. Except that dividend-companies tend to increase the dividend every year when possible, so it's also a bond where the yield increases. Coca-Cola has paid about 3% for years and years.

That's not something worth worrying about in your 20's. Just set up a recurring investment in index funds or similar and forget it exists until you're at least in your 50's or later.

Random catastrophes do happen to younger folks, of course, but those are something to deal with if and when they happen.

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