apart from my Berkshire holdings I am since now a full year year out of the since then constantly rising market

Oof.
Total returns 1/1/2024 - 12/31/2024:
SPY 25.69%
VTI 24.74%
BRK-B 25.15%

It will take a -20.6% drop to give back that gain.

Yes, I get that once you have "enough" money, staying invested is mainly "running up the score."
Nothing wrong about somebody deciding that enough is enough, that's a person decision.De gustibus non disputandum est.

But that not a decision from fear of a drop, it's an asset allocation decision.

Yeah, when we started to talk about early retirement my wife said, "So it we had $1,000,000 we could withdraw $50,000 a year for 20 years." I said, "Yes, that what the math says." The she said, "Okay, keep investing. Tell me if and when I need to stop buying stuff."


Optimizing returns is not everything in investing. The way one invests must fit the person who does invest.

Yup. I recognize that a lot of people are not in the "running up the score" camp.



maybe even seen as "heresy": By betting against Berkshire by buying Puts.

Yeah, here is when De gustibus non disputandum est comes into play. Almost all of my such plays have turned out to be suboptimal. I tip my hat to those who make it work, but I suck at it.