1 year's living expenses taken in pieces in December/January, that is spent down each year, rinse and repeat.
I tend to follow Dr Doom's thoughts on cushions: in theory it's a decent strategy in SOME cases, and there's plenty of real numbers that make it smarter to just draw what you need when you need it - mostly just stay on your toes and be ready to pivot if you choose wrong. The only absolute for me is there is no option of selling the entire portfolio in a panic. Even in the event of a crash or long-term recession, slow spending, eliminate extras, getting a part time job in the event I don't want to pull from a depressed portfolio... I got plans, and I'm good with low cash on hand to, as Dr Doom puts it on the 1st part of his drawdown series:
You are getting paid a higher return to deal with the emotional impact of watching your money bounce around a lot.https://livingafi.com/2014/05/09/drawdown-part-1-the-basics/Read all 5 parts - this is older, maybe a few references are dated, but it's pure gold.
I compromise by having one year in cash, and top it up using dividends thrown off my taxable each year. Even if I have to tap my portfolio before full recovery, I'll likely still be ahead of where I'd be if I'd been sitting on 3+ years in cash/CDs. I fully recognize and am comfortable with the risks. Others may not be. I am lucky in that I do not have dependents to depend on me, low yearly spend with lots of fat to cut if necessary. It's just me and a husband, and we're both fully capable of getting part time jobs doing whatever to cover a long gap. Or get creative (sell off personal items, downsize house/vehicles, reduce expenses to the bone, get job(s), etc).
As I age, I'll likely pull a larger cushion, but I'm relatively young right now and jobs are plentiful and pay well considering, so I can easily get a job stocking shelves, running a register or such and make a high enough salary even working part time to not reduce my yearly expenses even a dollar. And I'm not at the point where working retail for a year or two would bother me much. That will change, so I'll adjust my plans when I decide that's no longer an option.