bhaskar saikia

As the year folds into itself and a new one waits at the doorstep, we do what humans have always done—we plan.

New routines, new hopes, new resolutions. Amid these, financial planning often finds its way into our lists, sometimes driven by aspiration, sometimes by anxiety.

After spending over two decades in the stock market, I’ve learned one thing clearly: investing is less about predicting the future and more about understanding oneself.

Over the years, charts have changed, cycles have repeated, narratives have collapsed and rebuilt themselves. Yet, beneath all this movement, I’ve found that a robust investment endeavor rests on a few enduring human attributes.

Courage

The market tests courage not in moments of celebration, but in moments of silence and fear.

Courage is required to invest when uncertainty clouds judgment, to stay invested when headlines scream collapse, and to resist the urge to flee at the first sign of discomfort.

This is not the courage of impulse—it is the courage of conviction and patience.

Intelligence

But courage alone is dangerous without intelligence.

Market intelligence is not about knowing everything; it is about knowing enough—about businesses, valuations, risks, and, importantly, about one’s own limitations.

True intelligence in investing often reveals itself as restraint. The ability to say no. The humility to accept that not every opportunity needs to be acted upon.

Experience

Experience is the quiet teacher that arrives only after losses. It teaches you that markets move in cycles, that exuberance is as deceptive as despair, and that time often matters more than timing.

Experience refines courage and tempers intelligence. It turns mistakes into lessons and volatility into familiarity.

As a new year approaches, many will look for fresh strategies, new instruments, or the next promising trend. These may help—but they are not foundational.

If there is one thing twenty years in the market has taught me, it is this: The strongest investment portfolio is built on the investor’s temperament.

Plan your finances this year not just with numbers, but with character.
Cultivate courage that is calm, intelligence that is grounded, and experience that is reflective.

Markets will fluctuate. These attributes will compound.