Leo Puri, Managing Director, UTI MF suggests that first of all you do an assessment of your risk-taking ability. Assuming that you have a median risk-taking ability and given your age, you need to set up a broader investment plan to reap optimum benefits when needed. Your investment plan should comprise of equity and fixed income with a slice of commodity, like gold. Since you have a higher number of earning years and you can save a higher proportion of your income, the bulk of your investment should be in equity assets (may be 70-75 per cent) to start with. You can create an equity mutual fund portfolio with schemes that are large-, mid- and small-cap oriented and have a decent performance track record. The fixed income portion can be invested for liquidity and stability factors. Schemes like the Floating Rate Fund and Duration Funds can also form a part of it. The residual portion can be invested into gold for portfolio diversification and hedging purposes. Many mutual funds offer gold funds.