Rethinking Money: How you should prepare for 2026

Forecasts aren't prophecy—they offer a glimpse into market sentiment. Our New Year special asks experts not for perfect numbers, but how they interpret the economy and the world around them—and how that shapes their money moves. The message is clear: discipline beats prediction. Stay invested. Stay diversified. Here's how that thinking is shaping their approach to 2026, and what's likely to keep their sectors busy.

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What is your plan for your money? My plan stays boring yet effective: keep SIPs going in diversified equity/hybrids, maintain a proper cash buffer in liquid/ultrashort debt, and rebalance instead of reacting. If rates soften, I'll add duration gradually through high-quality debt rather than trying to guess the exact cut. In 2026, I will avoid leverage and fashionable themes, and keep a small allocation to gold as insurance, besides treating both term and health covers as nonnegotiable because the real shocks in life rarely arrive with a forecast.

What will drive investments in 2026?

The industry will stay busy managing two recurring problems: investors chasing what just went up, and investors panicking when it stops going up. If markets rise, we'll see a fresh parade of “new ideas” sold as inevitabilities. If markets wobble, the focus will shift to asset allocation, risk communication, and stopping people from selling at the bottom. Expect tighter scrutiny on mis-selling and suitability, more emphasis on transparent costs and risk labels, and a stronger push towards solution portfolios for retirement, passive building blocks, and target-maturity debt. The real product remains behaviour: staying invested through discomfort.

What is your plan for your money?

2026 will be a year to invest continuously and gradually. The rotation from small caps to large caps is underway and so for risk conscious investors like me this is going to be a good year. Portfolio strategy matters: this means getting position sizes and sectoral calls aligned with the current context.

This is a great time to book profits out of hot themes and deleverage. Closing out, prepaying, and refinancing loans in a low interest rate environment can bring down interest costs significantly. For me, term life and health insurance remain non-negotiables. In terms of investing I will continue to prefer Mutual funds over insurance linked investment products.