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Have you noticed how after a market correction if you invest in stocks it feels like you need to be more financially defensive? By being more defensive I simply mean having more investments in assets that have less risk and are less likely to loose value based on the economy. This would mean having more assets in cash or near cash equivalents such as short term bond funds. On a historical basis it would also mean having more assets in other bond categories commodities and real estate however this bear market has taken down all asset classes.
When I find myself wanting to flock to a more defensive portfolio right now I remind myself that the time to have owned more defensive investments was a year and a half ago but maybe not today. While this may not be the absolute bottom and it is certainly reasonable to think the economy will continue to languish for quite some time it seems probable to me that the time to have had less money in stocks was before the 40% downturn not after. I find that thinking in terms of probabilities removes my emotions from the equation. If you do not have one already it would be an ideal time to create a long term financial portfolio plan. You are now likely very aware of your risk tolerance having been through the largest bear market since 1931 a correction of the magnitude we never thought would happen again. Try not to beat yourself up for not seeing the degree of this correction. Very few professionals performed well in 2008 and they do this all day every day. Learn and move forward.