How does one stay the course when their portfolio drops 50% and they are retired? Do you have cash stocked up in a savings account that should aid you in riding out market crashes?
Well, you realize that every time in the past that the market has crashed, it has recovered and then gone on to new highs. Some people will just stop looking at their statements. Other more "advanced" folks will do everything they can to scrape up more cash to buy more investments as the market drops.
Last time (2008!) I did a bit of both. I kept investing in my 401K to the max that I could, and sending a good chunk to my brokerage every month as normal, but I also didn't check my portfolio value very much. That crash ended up being a good thing for me.
As far as retirement, if you are familiar with safe withdrawal rate studies, they've tested every possible outcome and even with market crashes you can generally withdraw approximately 4% adjusted for inflation each year and have a great chance of your money lasting 30 years. Lots of safe withdrawal stuff on the MMM home page.