Some folks had good news about gold over the past few weeks, and some had bad news.

The good news is a treasure hunter working the waters off the Florida coastline with a metal detector found a million bucks worth of gold coins and chains from a 300-year-old wrecked Spanish galleon. Under U.S. salvage laws, he'll keep 80% of what he found.

The bad news is none of that gold is yours.

You've already learned that to have any gold of your own, you had to earn the wealth to pay for it, sometimes coin by coin. You paid one price in dollars; you paid another price worrying about its safety; and you paid a price watching the steady decay of law, society, and the paper dollar that might signal one day you'll need your gold just to survive.

Today, I ask you to consider doing some work to ensure you keep it for yourself, your family, and to bequeath to your children.

The Tragedy of Not Planning Ahead

This true story of a fellow we'll call Daniel illustrates our point. In 2009, at age 63, Daniel was comfortably semi-retired, picking up some consulting work here and there to beef up his ira withdrawals and social security checks.

That January, Daniel suffered a stroke and collapsed. The last words Daniel spoke with any clarity were to a neighbor in his driveway, as he was being put in an ambulance: “Take my house keys,” he said. “Call my daughters, and feed my cats. I'll be home in a few days.”

The extent of the stroke proved massive.

Daniel never spoke again, never saw his home again, and six years later, has not left institutionalized medical care.

His two grown daughters were unprepared to handle his affairs. They had no idea what he owned, or even where to find his vital records. In addition to dealing with the burdens of their dad's illness, they spent months plowing through mountains of papers and belongings.

They found no computer passwords, no Last Will, no diaries or journals.