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A widely cited rule of thumb splits a portfolio between Equity, Debt and Gold by age. Here is what that heuristic produces — as a starting point for your own thinking, not a plan to follow.
Long time horizon means you can ride out market volatility. Maximise equity for compounding. Debt is just for liquidity/emergency.
EMIs, family costs, and goals closer on the horizon. Shift a little toward debt for stability while keeping equity dominant.
Retirement is 15–20 years away. Goals like children's education are now near-term. Reduce volatility exposure gradually.
Capital preservation matters more. Equity still needed to beat inflation in retirement. Shift debt heavy with some gold as hedge.
The bands above are only meaningful if you know what is being split. These are descriptions of the three broad asset classes and the job each one does in a portfolio — they are not suggestions about what to buy.
Ownership in businesses, held directly as shares or through mutual funds. Historically the highest-growth asset class over long periods, and also the most volatile — values can fall sharply and stay down for years. Generally discussed for money that will not be needed for a long time.
Lending your money in return for interest — bank deposits, government small-savings schemes, bonds and debt mutual funds. Steadier in value than equity and generally lower-growth. Credit risk and interest-rate movements still apply; steadier is not the same as risk-free.
Held as a diversifier rather than a growth engine, because it often moves differently from equity and can offset a weakening rupee. It generates no income by itself. Electronic forms such as gold ETFs avoid the making charges, purity questions and storage risk that come with jewellery.
A starting point only — equity % ≈ 100 − your age. Adjust for risk appetite and income stability.
When equity runs up, book some profits and rebalance back to your target. Keep portfolio honest.
Money you may need at short notice is usually kept separate from a long-term allocation, so that a market fall never forces a sale at the wrong moment.
Your home is a lifestyle asset, not an investment. Don't count it as debt or equity exposure.
Whatever sits in an NPS account's equity portion already counts toward an equity share — it is easy to double-count. The permitted maximum is set by PFRDA and has changed over time, so check the current rule.
EPF contributions count as debt allocation. High earners often have more debt than they realise.
This is an educational framework, not personalised financial advice. Asset allocation depends on your risk tolerance, income stability, existing corpus, and specific goals. Consult a SEBI-registered financial advisor for a tailored plan.
Before investing, make sure you have 6 months of expenses in a liquid fund.
In short
This page is not a calculator — it does no arithmetic on your money. It shows what one widely cited rule of thumb, “100 minus your age”, produces as an equity/debt/gold split at four life stages, and explains what those three asset classes actually are. Entering your age only highlights the matching band. It is a starting point for your own thinking, not a plan to follow.
It is a long-standing rule of thumb from personal-finance writing, not something issued by a regulator. Its value is that it makes one real idea memorable — your capacity for risk generally falls as your horizon shortens. Its weakness is that it compresses an entire financial life into a single number.
Two reasons. Pairing named products with your age would read as guidance aimed at you specifically, and this is an educational site rather than an advisory one. And named products go stale — an earlier version of this page listed options that have since closed to new money.
This page treats it as a lifestyle asset rather than part of the split — you cannot sell a bedroom to rebalance. Property held purely as an investment is a different question, and this simple three-way split does not model it.
No. It explains a public rule of thumb and what the three asset classes are. It does not know your circumstances, recommends nothing, and is not a substitute for a SEBI-registered investment adviser.
The regulator's investor-education portal. Basis for the framing that market-linked investments carry risk, that asset allocation is a personal decision, and that personalised advice belongs with a registered investment adviser.
Industry investor-education material on diversification and the standard market-risk disclosures. Note what is deliberately absent from this page's sources: no rate, slab or return figure is quoted anywhere, because the heuristic itself is convention rather than regulation.
This tool gives you a number. These free WealQuest lessons explain the idea it rests on — in English and हिंदी, no sign-up.
This explains the maths behind the tool so you can trust the number. It is educational information, not financial advice.