Key Takeaways
- Warren Buffett says that emotional intelligence is key to making wise investment decisions.
- Investors with patience and self-control often outperform those who follow emotion in the market.
If you’ve ever bought a stock during a market boom, only to panic and sell at a loss, you already know emotions can be costly. With recent headlines full of stock market swings, it’s natural for investors to be nervous, but Buffett has stayed calm, slowly amassing a record cash pile for potential future purchases. Why is he so steady when others panic?
Buffett told those assembled at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s (BRK.A, BRK.B) 2025 shareholder meeting that stock market drops are “really nothing” if your plan is sound. The key to sticking with your plan is emotional intelligence.
Buffett’s Market Mastery
Buffett is not immune to emotion. “People experience emotions,” he said. “However, you must leave those at the door when making investment decisions.” Even as the market dropped and then rebounded this year, Buffett reminded investors not to expect the world to change for them.
Emotional intelligence—the ability to recognize and manage your own emotions—is what separates successful investors from those who chase trends. While other cognitive skills can help you read balance sheets, emotional intelligence keeps you from panic-selling or buying into bubbles. Buffett has built his fortune on this skill.
We can see this at work in Berkshire’s recent moves. In 2025, Berkshire Hathaway made headlines for increasing its cash stockpile to $382 billion. Buffett argued at the 2025 shareholder meeting that it’s not that he’s afraid to wade into the volatility of today’s market—it’s that he’s being patient for the right deals to come along, which he hasn’t seen among the high stock prices of today’s market.
We’ve seen Buffett do this in the past. Before the 2008 crash, Berkshire built up its cash holdings. Once the market tumult began, Buffett swooped in, making deals with Goldman Sachs (GS) and General Electric (which were broken up into three companies in 2021) when their stocks were at historic lows.
Lessons for Today’s Investor
Here are four lessons you can learn from Buffett on how to profit from your own emotional intelligence:
- Don’t react to headlines or market drops: Buffett often buys when fear is highest and waits quietly while greed fills the market.
- Use cash as a tool: Don’t rush to invest just for the sake of action. When Berkshire waited through tech booms and busts, critics complained. But when those bubbles popped, Buffett’s discipline brought big rewards.
- Admit mistakes: When Buffett has made bad investments, he acknowledges them, seeing them as valuable lessons.
- Stay patient: Buffett’s record shows that time, not timing, matters most. “Our favorite holding period is forever,” he once wrote. The longer you can stay invested and ignore short-term drama, the more your wealth can grow.
