When the economy crashed, I saw many people I know who had done everything right in terms of retirement savings get wiped out just as they were retiring. They were ruined.
Each individual case is different, but en masse household net worth (house value and stock market investments) dropped 17%. Four years later, it was back to where it was pre-recession. 17% is a hell of a haircut, but not what I would categorize as "ruined". Unless, and here's my most likely theory, they panicked and made a poor timing choice in selling the house or selling stocks at the worst possible time, and then had to buy back in at higher prices (because they missed most of the upswing while sitting out).
My parents, OTOH, sat it out just fine, and are so far from ruined that Mom bought herself a new C7 Corvette a few years ago. Anecdata all around, but if you can't sit tight for four more years, you're doing something wrong.