So regardless of someone's financial picture they should never own equities or other assets that may appreciate greatly in their tax deferred accounts?  I think that is an awful blanket statement to make.  Many investors have the bulk of their financial assets in deferred accounts, so according to your logic, they would be super heavy on fixed income regardless of their risk tolerance.  There are other reasons as well why your logic is not good.  You need to think about this stuff in other than straight tax ways.