If the big one (like 2007-2008) hits the markets again, I will be SOL because my job may be gone and so will a good chunk of my portfolio.
Define big one. The biggest ones we can look at, historically, are something like 30-50% haircut, followed by stagnant "real" returns on the order of [worst case] 15 years. If you had invested on the day before the market crashed in 1929, you would have been back in the black on real return in 15 years(Stocks for the Long Run).
Yes, losing your job would suck, and that's why you should have money set aside in a variety of investment vehicles(taxable, ROTH, pre-tax) to allow yourself to survive those layoffs for a while, to move yourself wherever the job market might be greener. That's part of why the question of emergency funds is important on a personal level. I'm comfortable with margin credit and credit cards, it let's me sleep at night, that might not be the case for others. OTOH, in the end, we all die. An asteroid hits the earth(or the dollar collapses, or nuclear some such, fill in your apocalypse here ____), and it wouldn't matter what your net worth or FIRE plans are/were.
So, combining the two sentiments, in a "worst case scenario", in which the sky doesn't fall, but bad things happen, will you kick yourself in the teeth and make things worse, or will you grit your teeth, smile(because you're decently positioned for any eventuality), and pull through?
Does your stock/bond/international exposure have you following the market religiously on a daily basis? Are you causing yourself stomach ulcers and other issues, or, can you sleep soundly? In a 30% down market, will you be able to smile at all the blood in the streets, and raise your hand with a couple hundred dollar bills in it and yell out "Buy buy buy!"?
I'm 27. I'm very employable(veteran, electronics technician/operator). I have 3 years of GI bill benefits left to use up, and I'm decently employed right now to boot. I can't project a 5 year scenario in which I end up on the other end of it crying on the streets because of my choices in life, lamenting my decisions, my allocations, any of it. Any scenario that is that terrible for me after 5 years is a
nuclear winter grade level of calamity, and there's just nothing I can do to plan for that.
I sleep like a fucking baby.
Also, +1 point to sol.