New Delhi, April 24 -- Planning your finances after 45 is less about playing it safe and more about playing it smart. With retirement drawing closer, this phase is crucial for striking the right balance between protecting your wealth and ensuring it continues to grow. The goal is not just capital preservation, but also beating inflation and maintaining your lifestyle in the years ahead.

Atish Jain, CEO, Choice Connect, explains, "At 45, you're not at the finish line, you're at the halfway mark. The worst thing you can do is invest as if you've already retired. You still have 15-20 years of compounding working for you, and wasting that runway on purely 'safe' instruments is how inflation quietly wins.

Gold has a role, as a hedge, not a h...