There is a old saying , do not put all eggs in one basket. That holds good for planning your investments. Part of your money should be put into real estate, partly in gold, partly in equities. Equities are definitely to be invested with a long term view and never with a short term view. You need to invest part of your money in equities, clearly with a long term view. Long term means over five years. Equity gives the best returns over a longer term, but has lot of volatility. And by putting a part of your long term resources, you will be able to ensure good growth in your overall investment portfolio. Because they are very volatile and can even show steep losses in the short term, you should avoid putting more than 10 to 15% of your total investible surplus into equities.