There is no single "right" equity share for your age. A better starting point is time to each goal: roughly 70–80% equity when a goal is 10+ years away, sliding to under 20% in the final 2 years. Your age only matters because it decides how many years each goal has left.
The popular rule says hold (100 − age)% in equity. At 30 that means 70%; at 60, 40%. It is a fine conversation starter, but it treats your whole life as one goal with one deadline. In reality you have several:
Each has a different deadline, so each deserves a different equity share. A 35-year-old can rationally hold 80% equity for retirement and 10% for the down payment, in the same month.
Equity can fall 30–40% in a bad year and may take several years to recover. Money needed soon cannot wait for that recovery. The glide path simply moves money from equity to debt as the date approaches.
| Years to goal | Equity | Debt | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10+ | 70–80% | 10–20% | 5–10% |
| 7–10 | 60–70% | 20–30% | 5–10% |
| 4–7 | 40–50% | 40–50% | 5–10% |
| 2–4 | 20–30% | 60–70% | 0–10% |
| Under 2 | 0–15% | 85–100% | 0% |
These are illustrative bands, not a prescription. Your risk comfort, income stability and other assets shift them.
Assume a goal needs ₹40 lakh and equity is assumed at ~11–12% a year, debt at ~6–7%. If everything stays in equity until the day it is needed, a single crash in the final year can leave you well short with no time to recover. A glide path gives up a little expected return, because debt is assumed to earn less, in exchange for a much narrower range of outcomes on the date that matters.
That trade is worth making for goals with fixed dates (education, down payment, wedding). It matters far less for a goal 25 years out.
Retirement is a special case. You still need growth for 25–30 years after you stop working, so do not drop to zero equity at 60. Many people keep a meaningful equity share well into retirement, in line with their comfort.
This is exactly how the 6-step goal plan in Plan Our Future works: each goal gets its own SIP and an equity/debt/gold mix that de-risks automatically as the date nears.
Q. Is "100 minus age" still a useful rule?
A. As a rough sanity check for one long-term pot, yes. For real planning with several goals and deadlines, time-to-goal is more accurate than age.
Q. Should I sell equity all at once when a goal is 2 years away?
A. Not necessarily. Most people shift in steps over a few years, which reduces the risk of exiting on a bad day.
Q. Does a younger person never need debt?
A. Debt still has a role for short-term goals and the emergency fund, even at 25. The glide path is per goal, not per person.
Q. Are these percentages guaranteed to work?
A. No. Returns are assumptions and markets vary. Treat the bands as a framework and consider speaking to a qualified adviser for your situation.
Plan Our Future · AMFI-registered Mutual Fund Distributor (ARN-360754). Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.