[annoyingcyclist]

I have a year of living expenses in cash, several more in low-risk investments. I've been practicing interview skills (but I was doing that anyway). Making sure I have local copies of any personal creds from my work machine – 401(k) login, Carta, health plan, etc. Holding off on some home improvements – I'd probably like to have the money if I lose my job in a downturn, and I might get a better deal on labor in a downturn if I don't (or be able to snap up cheap assets or whatever). I chose to keep living in a HCOL tech hub even after everything went remote because I wanted exposure to both local and remote jobs – that's helpful in a good economy, and could be the difference between a job and no job in a bad one.

A lot of prep is done years ahead of time. Live within your means, save for retirement and for emergencies. Don't buy the most expensive house or car you possibly can – something that's technically affordable on a bubbly senior SWE salary is likely very not affordable on unemployment. With luck and discipline you can end up with enough of a nest egg that you don't have to stress too much about this stuff.

I graduated into the great financial crisis, and lucked into a couple of dead end jobs. A mistake I made was internalizing that the economy is bad, clinging to those jobs out of fear even after the worst of the crisis had passed, and losing out on some years of high earning after things started to get better.