How the recent bull market misled this older investor

Summary: Late entry into equities can feel rewarding, until volatility tests both patience and time. This story examines why portfolios that look fine in rising markets can become fragile after 50, and how age, risk and allocation quietly change the rules of investing. If you are over 50 and have discovered the joys of investing in equity markets in recent years, this story is for you. Meet Mr Raghavan. Now 70, he is retired, lives with his spouse, earns a rental income of Rs 40,000, and is occasionally supported by his son, who covers about one-third of his total monthly expenses. He had spent most of his working life without participating in the stock market. Then came the Covid crash. By mid 2021, equities did not look risky. They looked obvious. When rising markets looked foolproof Mr Raghavan entered equities with a clear purpose. He wanted to build a legacy for his children and grandchildren. Over the next four years, he invested Rs 15 lakh into mutual funds through staggered lumpsums, keeping another Rs 5 lakh in fixed deposits (FDs). His mutual fund corpus has grown to Rs 21.9 lakh and the FD to Rs 6.3 lakh. But his approach to fund selection was rather blunt, with little respect for any asset-allocation rationale. The highest returns decided his choices. Small caps dominated the portfolio, followed by mid caps and a handful of thematic funds picked up from random Facebook investment-tip pages. Large caps were marginal. Debt funds were absent (see graph titled ‘Raghavan’s portfolio today’). For most of this period, the strategy seemed to work. Markets

This article was originally published on January 20, 2026.