DR. WALLACE: My dad's brother, my uncle, came over to our house last weekend, and I heard him talking to my dad after dinner. My father told my uncle that he had recently bought some gold and silver bars as an investment, and that he buried them in a secret spot on our property somewhere in our yard.

My uncle had a good laugh about that because he thought my dad was kidding him, but when he questioned him further, my dad told him in a very serious tone of voice that he actually did put them in the ground, as that was safer than anywhere else he could think of. My uncle seemed surprised, but he didn't push my father further on the conversation, and pretty soon they started talking about fishing and sports, and there was no more mention of gold or silver bars. I don't want to say anything directly to my dad for several reasons, but I thought I would ask if you think it's a good idea to bury precious metals in the ground at our family home? — I'm Curious About This, via email

I'M CURIOUS ABOUT THIS: Your father is a bold man indeed. You and I have no idea if he buried a lot of those precious metals or just a small dollar amount, so that consideration is the first thing I'm thinking about in preparing an answer for your question. If it was really just a small amount, there may not be a lot of harm in doing this, but mentioning it to your uncle opens up the possibility of your uncle mentioning it to someone else, even inadvertently, at a later date. This would not be good; someone could look for these assets on your family's property someday, and it could also put your family's safety at risk if others knew about it.

To store gold and silver bars, there are definitely other options. One would be to use a professional company that not only stores these assets in a vault but provides full insurance for approximately 0.5% to 1% of the total value per year. It's also possible to get a very heavy professional safe to put into your family home, but this requires an upfront capital outlay that may not be feasible, depending upon how much value your father presently has. Some people use safety deposit boxes to store gold and silver, but this avenue typically comes without insurance, so there's definitely some level of risk in that regard.

Finally, instead of actually taking possession of gold and silver bars, it's possible to buy access to gold and silver via the stock exchanges. Ticker symbols GLD & SLV can be held in brokerage accounts for as long as someone wishes to hold them, and they can be liquidated in literally 24 hours at any time. Yes, these exchange traded funds do have fees built into them, but beyond that small amount, there are no storage fees or physical storage security risks involved.

I NEED TO SHOW EXAMPLES OF MENTAL GROWTH

DR. WALLACE: I'm working on a summer project paper, and I'm a bit stumped at the moment. My assignment is to demonstrate the growth and development of young human beings up through the age of 20.

I recall in a previous science class that we were taught how to determine the age of a tree by counting the rings at its core, as the changing of the seasons created different colors that allowed a tree's age to be determined quite accurately. I've been mulling that idea around in my head, trying to tie in this analogy to how human beings grow and develop mentally as well as physically. My specific assignment has more to do with the mental development than actual physical human growth. Do you have any ideas on how I can explain or delineate human mental growth up through the age of 20? I know these are ages of young people you've dealt with a lot in your life. — Seeking Examples of Mental Growth, via email

SEEKING EXAMPLES OF MENTAL GROWTH: Your comparison with the rings of trees is quite interesting indeed, but of course human beings are much more complex when it comes to mental growth, and we're certainly not going to be cutting into anyone to see mental growth!

I feel one of the best examples you can consider, and find a way to explain in your own style, would be to perhaps categorize humans from the ages of around 5, 10, 15 and 20, and focus on what human beings typically think about, what is important to them and what their goals are or were at those specific ages. Tracking what they think about (and why) at those specific ages will likely demonstrate measurable growth, even though you won't see physical rings.

Human mental growth is complex and takes full advantage of experience and an ever-developing and expanding learning curve. I trust you can come up with some examples on your own to demonstrate the differences in thinking and the evolution of thoughts between those four age groups and how they evolve and develop over time, as the wonderful human mind grows and develops alongside the growth of the physical body.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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