DEAR BRUCE: My wife and I are in our mid-50s. She recently suffered a catastrophic brain aneurysm. The care that she will require will strain our family's resources. A family lawyer could only offer obtaining power of attorney. Could you please provide at least a starting point or perhaps several options? -- M.S., Ohio

DEAR M.S.: I assume that you have some insurance. However, much of the care that your wife will require may not be covered by insurance. If your wife has her mental faculties, a power of attorney would certainly be in order. If we are beyond that point, a power of attorney could not be attained on her signature. You will then have to go to the courts to be appointed her guardian. Aside from that, it is really too late to do too much. If you were thinking of transferring assets from her name to someone in the family, there will be a look-back period of three years. That simply means that if you have to go to Medicaid or some other government resource, then that asset can be attached by the state -- and very likely will. Unfortunately, at this point, all you can do is keep very careful records, keep your insurance company in the loop. and, were I you, I would have an insurance professional look at the policy to be certain you're not overlooking any coverage.

DEAR BRUCE: I'm an only child. A few years ago, my parents quitclaimed all their property to me. They didn't retain life rights to their place of residence. I'm concerned if they were to outlive me, their home could be in jeopardy because of some unseen circumstance. I'm married without any children. How should I remedy this? -- T.M., Arkansas

DEAR T.M.: There's nothing whatsoever to prevent you from seeing an attorney and having him write up a life-rights provision on the property for your parents. If they do outlive you, the home will still be available to them as long as they need it, so long as they maintain the taxes and have insurance in place. This should be a relatively simple matter to resolve but get it done.

DEAR BRUCE: TV and radio ads from several companies encourage investing in gold. Why would these companies be selling gold for less than its value? With the value of the dollar declining and gold increasing, local companies are buying old jewelry, etc. -- Jeri, via e-mail

DEAR JERI: You should understand that the companies who deal in gold, platinum, silver, etc., do not hold these metals. They simply sell them at market with an extra markup for their commission. For the sake of discussion, if you want to buy a gold coin, which, at this writing, the current market price is in the near $1,000 range, the company selling you that gold will simply buy it at the market price and then sell it to you for that price, plus a percentage for commission. They are not in the business of holding and speculating. They are simply brokering on a given daily market price. The companies that are buying the old jewelry are not holding it: They are either selling it to a refinery or melting it down themselves and disposing of it quickly. If you are encouraged to invest in the metal, which would indicate that you are going to hold it for a time, that is quite different from a brokerage. It is in their interest to get in and out quickly. They have a commission from you to sell a coin, they buy a coin, mark it up and sell it.