Lever one . duration . the read that does most of the work
The worst window an asset can hand you over your horizon decides the vehicle. Equity that bites over three years has historically healed over ten.
Worst window . NIFTY 50 TRI
-55 to -4
worst 1Y and 3Y both red. Equity can still be down when the bill lands.
Liquid . debt . FDcapital you cannot afford to see fall
+1 to +6.5
worst 5Y barely positive, worst 7Y comfortably so. The bite shrinks with time.
Hybrid . balanceda debt sleeve absorbs the bad year
+8 and up
no negative 10Y window on record. Time is the thing that makes equity safe.
Equity-ledlet the compounding run the distance
His retirement at 22 years out belongs in the bottom row. His daughter's college at 3 years belongs in the top one. Same person, opposite vehicles. The chart-topping smallcap fits neither cleanly.