Right now, the only gold I have is my gold library card... and that's not really a gold card. I just put some gold construction paper on it.

Here's a great way to begin funding -- or continue funding -- your retirement: A gold IRA.

I bet you didn't even know you could put gold coins into an IRA -- but it's true. The US allows you go hold some bullion and proof coins (gold and silver) in retirement plans. A complete list is available at Regal Gold Coins (regalgoldcoins.com), and it's not a bad idea to go to that site and read up on it, because you can also buy gold coins right through them.

And Regal can not only sell you the gold to put in your IRA, but can help manage it -- their retirement account specialists have been doing this for 25 years, and the gold is held a their Delaware depository, so you'll know it's safe.

Gold can be a great investment -- like any investment, it can go down as well as up, but lately gold has been going up. And holding it in an IRA lets you enjoy tax-free growth (until you take it out). So $10,000 worth of gold bought in the 70s would be worth more than $500,000 in your IRA today -- $590,000, to be exact. That's an increase of... well, a lot, over 40 years, which means that if you could get the same return NOW on your $10,000 investment, you'd want to begin right away -- especially you young people, who need to put down your Guitar Hero controllers and go get saving for retirement.

Investing in things like the st gaudens gold you can get online can be a unique, fun, and remunerative way to begin that saving process -- more interesting and possibly more rewarding than just putting money into a savings account. Get some investment advice and read up on it (I'm just a blogger, after all, not a gold expert) so that you'll know what I'm coming to understand: Buying gold (online, even) and investing in it can be profitable if you do it right -- profitable and easy, considering that Regal Gold Coins will even ship the stuff to you.