New Delhi, Sept. 3 -- Buying a house is a major financial goal, and a seven-year timeline gives investors enough time to use market-linked investments to build the required corpus. But there is an important difference between saving for a house and investing for long-term wealth creation. A house purchase usually comes with a defined timeline, which means a market fall close to the purchase date can derail the plan if too much of the corpus remains exposed to equities.

The investment strategy, therefore, needs to balance growth in the early years with capital protection as the goal approaches. Experts say investors should also first establish exactly how much they need to accumulate, rather than automatically treating the entire future p...