Yes, mutual funds are capable of supporting you achieve your various life goals if you are clear about them.
It is not about timing the market, but time spent in the market that helps you generate the wealth you wish to make. There are varied schemes with different investment objectives to choose from depending on your time horizon available, financial capacity and risk appetite. For example –
Equity funds works best if you are a young investor and want to build a corpus for retirement of children’s education. However if your risk appetite is low, you can opt for balanced funds too.
Low risk debt funds/income funds are best suited for you if your objective is to derive better income from a fund compared to your savings accounts/ bank FDs.
Liquid fund should be your choice is you want to park some surplus money for a short period before you make a conscious choice to invest in mutual funds.