''How can I get financing to buy a vacation time share in Ireland?''
By Writer: Holly Wheelwright Reporter associate: Jersey Gilbert

(MONEY Magazine) – SILVER Q. My husband and I would like to start investing in silver. What is the best way to do it? KIMBERLY A. BROOKHART Mechanicsburg, Pa. A. You have two choices. You can buy one-ounce U.S. Silver Eagles from coin and precious-metals dealers, banks and brokerages. The 1987 Eagle costs about $11. Or you can buy silver bullion, most economically in 100-ounce bars, through a brokerage firm or a precious-metals dealer such as Manfra Tordella Brookes (30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, N.Y. 11102) or Deak-Perera (29 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10006). You can either take delivery of the bars or pay up to 1% a year to have your dealer store them. Most large brokerage houses also offer investment plans that, for example, allow you to make monthly silver, gold or platinum purchases of $100 or more. (See the story on page 47.)

SOCIAL SECURITY Q. How do I estimate what my Social Security benefits will be when I retire? I am 28 years old. JEFF PAINTER Cincinnati A. At your age, you can only guess at what your benefits will be. While the Social Security Administration can make very accurate projections for people 62 or older, unpredictable changes, such as future cost-of-living adjustments to Social Security benefits and how much you will eventually earn, make accurate estimates over a long period impossible. Officials at your local Social Security Administration office can tell you what your benefits would be at your present salary if you were able to begin receiving them now. Using that figure as your starting point, financial planners say you can approximate future benefits by adding 3% -- a figure derived from rises in Social Security benefits since 1954 -- for each year until you expect to stop working.

COLLECTIBLES Q. While in Spain four years ago, we bought a Lladro porcelain figurine of a couple in a boat under a tree called ''Under the Willow.'' Recently it was broken by movers who have offered to reimburse us. Where can we find another one? How much will it cost? VIC MAZA Carlsbad, N.M. A. ''Under the Willow'' is available in the U.S. for $1,950. You can get names of dealers in your area from the Lladro Collectors Society (225 Fifth Ave., P.O. Box 1122, New York, N.Y. 10101). The society can also give you names of restorers who may be able to repair your piece.

VACATIONS Q. I want to buy a $9,500 vacation time share in Ireland with a $3,000 down payment. Where can I find financing for the balance? MARGUERITE E. QUINN Boston A. Whether your time share is in the U.S. or abroad, the developer of the time-share project is your best bet for financing, as long as the loan program is being underwritten by a reputable bank or lender -- not the developer. Almost all time-share developers offer financing at rates one to three percentage points lower than those on personal loans at banks in the U.S., according to Keith Romney, a time-share consultant in Salt Lake City.

IRAS Q. We are both teachers and make contributions to a tax-sheltered annuity program. These contributions are not listed as ''wages subject to tax'' on our W-2 forms, but they are included in ''Social Security wages.'' Which figure do we use -- the larger or the smaller -- to determine our eligibility for a | deductible Individual Retirement Account contribution? JOANNE AND TERRY ELDRED Crown Point, Ind. A. Use the smaller figure, ''wages subject to tax,'' because this is the one used to calculate adjusted gross income (AGI), the amount on which your eligibility for an IRA deduction is based. You will not be able to take the full $4,000 IRA contribution under the new tax act if your joint AGI exceeds $40,000.

CREDIT CARDS Q. What is a secured credit card? PAMELA COLBERT Washington, D.C. A. Also called collateralized credit cards, secured cards are issued by a handful of companies to people who cannot qualify for regular cards, either because they have low credit ratings or none at all. A secured card, usually a MasterCard or Visa, is backed by a savings account set up by the cardholder at the issuing bank. The amount of money in the account -- at least $400 is usually required -- determines the cardholder's line of credit. Many banks pay interest on all the money in the savings account. The cards carry special fees and some charge interest rates as high as 22% -- 3 1/2 percentage points above the average for a regular credit card.