What is my Plan Moving Forward when My Portfolio is in the Red?

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For the whole of 2022, terms like "correction", "bear market" and "market crash" hogged the headlines.  By this time, I believe I am not alone, with a portfolio that is deep in the red.  As the volatility continues to the end of the year, and with a limited cash, how do I plan to navigate moving forward?

First and foremost, I am planning to split my cash on hand to 2 parts, one for the Dividend Portfolio, one for the Growth Portfolio.  Most likely I will split the cash equally, as both portfolios has been badly beaten down.  

For the Dividend Portfolio, I will combine the cash on hand with the dividends collected to continue to buy into the individual shares and REITs.  However, I will be strict with myself this time round, as my buying power is very limited.  For the non-REITs, I plan to only activate my cash (and reinvest dividends) when the yield of my shares is at 5% minimally, while for REITs, I plan to only activate my cash (and reinvest dividends) when the yield is at 6.5% minimally.  

For the Growth Portfolio, as dividend yield is not of concern, I will just slowly DCA into the shares as long as their share prices remain below my average cost.  

What happens if the share price did not fall sufficiently to enable me to activate my purchase plan?

I believe that is good on its own, because it just means that the share price is either finding a support level and has stopped falling, or the share price is doing a U-turn to rise back up.  Both will help to minimize the losses in my portfolio, so they are definitely welcomed events.  However, it is speculated that these may not happen anytime soon, until the FED decides to pivot.  When is that going to happen?  No one knows.  The only thing I can do is to hope for the best, and yet be prepared for the worst.  

This is a tough time when individuals may start doubting themselves, their decisions, should they sell their investments to conserve whatever is left.  I believe in the long term, things will be better, but in the midst of the journey there, things will get worse.  I can only be grateful that I am still able to work and continue to generate an income to survive, and to ride out the storm.  Barista FIRE, here I come...!

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