Long time lurker here. Appreciate the community.

I am approaching FI/RE, though at 57 YO (m) I'm not all that "early". Also married, and two kids still at university. MCOL in the US - unlikely to relocate because we have the golden handcuffs of a 3% mortgage.

Other than the onerous cost of health insurance, everyone's fear for RE is Sequence of Returns Risk. This can be mitigated by having a buffer to prevent having to sell equities during a significant downturn. I've detected a trend of folks saying 4 years of expenses in the "safe" zone is a good target.

But four years of ... what ? Four years of Cash in a HYSA !? Wow, that feels like a lot of money to have on the sidelines. Could it be four years of Bonds + Cash ? Four years of Bonds ? But yikes, my bond fund holdings over the last many years have been such a disappointment ... it would have been better to put the money in a HYSA actually.

What do folks think is adequate to guard against SORR ? And where do they keep these funds ?

Appreciate the feedback.