Is it right as I am timing my investments in small cap funds

Being a retired person, investing in a small cap fund is not a wise decision. It seems you are trying to time the market as you said you are investing in lump sum in dips. Trying to time the market most of the time can be a futile exercise as it is almost difficult, if not impossible, to time your investments in the market. To get good return from market investments, one must remain invested in the market for a long period as equity as an asset class gives the best return, if you remain invested over a long period of time.

You have mentioned 'protection from falling interest rates and inflation', in this case, when you retired you should have allocated some portion of your accumulated wealth into large cap or diversified equity funds. Alternatively, you could have allocated some savings to balanced funds as well. This would have given a kicker to your overall return on the portfolio without taking higher risk. However, if you have some investible surpluses, you can still do that provided you have a minimum 5 years investment horizon in mind.

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