The current market situation is not very good. It has been bearish for a long time and there is no guarantee how much longer it will remain in this time. Many may consider this period negatively. But I think this is the right time to buy altcoins. But before the altcoins I give the highest importance to bitcoin and then there are some altcoins that can make good profit in this bearish session.
We can't predict how long the bear market will last but we don't need to consider that until we don't do DCA to add assets to the portfolio, I also put my trust in investing in BTC and some other top coins to prepare for the market recovery and if that doesn't happen and even bear market continues, so I will add another asset to buy BTC.
Having reserve money gives you good advantage just like what you said. If the market continues to be bearish, you can add more instead of panicking and sell out with big losses, it is better to keep adding investment and wait till the big bounce back happens. Just make sure that you are using the amount that you can let go for a while. I mean, don't use emergency fund for your investment.
If you can allocate a decent amount of your salary and let it hold and serve as your retirement investment, the time will come that you will harvest good amount of benefits.