(MONEY Magazine) – Q A friend in Florida joined a buying club called FundAmerica, of Irvine, Calif. Its promotional video says members can get discounts on products and services, and can also earn money by selling memberships. Is this service real? Will it work? Charles Chin Malverne, N.Y.

A After watching the company's fervid video -- packed with glowing testimonials, including one from supply-side economist Arthur Laffer -- I was convinced that it was, and it would! ''Hot damn,'' I thought. ''Finally, there's a way to quit my job and stop taking guff from pea-brained bosses.'' For a mere $100 a year (plus a one-time $40 fee), I could join the club and receive fabulous discounts from Best Products, Ask Mr. Foster Travel Service and other major companies. And if I sold 40 memberships to my friends and relatives (and who could resist?), I would earn a 20% profit on the sales, not to mention a bonus equal to 5% of all they subsequently bought. In fact, I was going to make so much money so many different ways that I kind of lost track. But that was before I checked FundAmerica's record and found that Florida, Washington and Utah have accused it of running a pyramid scheme since mid-1989 (the states assessed fines of $8 million, $4 million and $250,000 respectively). Meanwhile, disgruntled FundAmericans have agreed to a $9 million settlement in a class-action suit they filed against the company in San Francisco; the firm is reorganizing under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy law; and a judge has ordered it to stop selling memberships. Through its lawyer, however, FundAmerica says that it was never a pyramid scheme -- it was simply misunderstood. And the company is developing a new business plan to meet the states' objections and may begin selling memberships again as soon as January. Even so, I would not join this or any similar club until it's been proved as worthwhile as, say, grocery store coupons.

Q My wife and I are in our seventies and worry about what would happen if either of us were ever confined to an expensive nursing home. We'd have to deplete our assets until Medicaid took over, and that would leave the healthy spouse in a terrible fix. Nursing-home insurance seems too costly. What do you advise? Stanley G. Kroto West End, N.C

A One solution may be to divide your assets and put them into living trusts for each other. But under complex federal and state rules, you could be ineligible for Medicaid nursing-home benefits for as long as 30 months after making such a transfer if you shelter the maximum $62,580 permitted by your state. And don't visit your state's Department of Human Resources for help. Its manual says social workers must keep names and addresses of people who ask questions ''to establish intent should the individual . . . later try to rebut the presumption that he transferred resources to make himself Medicaid-eligible.'' In other words, you're dealing with the KGB here. Do consult an attorney skilled in what's now called elder law. To find one, send a stamped, self- addressed envelope to the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, 655 N. Alvernon, Suite 108, Tucson, Ariz. 85711; 602-881-4005.

Q I bought 10 units of Consolidated Capital Properties III, a real estate limited partnership, for $5,000 in 1980. My principal was supposed to be returned in five to 10 years. But the latest report says there is no market for the units and no estimate of when I will get my money back. Meanwhile, I'm paying taxes on income I never receive. Is there anything I can do? Marilyn McDonald Renton, Wash.

A You might first think about this profound piece of advice that comes directly from no less a personage than my mom: ''Don't worry too much about saving on taxes,'' she says, ''because the government always gets you in the end.'' Case in point: you, like thousands of others, purchased real estate limited partnerships in the late '70s and early '80s when the top tax bracket was 70% and real estate values were zooming upward. You probably reaped hefty deductions from depreciation in the early years and figured on pocketing the gains from property sales later on. But the government got you by severely limiting partnership deductions in 1986. Then the real estate market went kablooey in the Oil Patch states where your money was invested. Now, whenever the partnership sells property to cover its expenses or debt, you can get hit % with taxes for ''phantom income'' from capital gains you never see. Raymond James & Co. in St. Petersburg, Fla. (813-573-3800) may be able to help you sell your units -- but not for more than about 11 cents on the dollar.

Q While leafing through my grandfather's old encyclopedia, I found a $1,000 Bank of the United States note dated Dec. 15, 1840. Is it valuable? Natalie Turner Hopkins Merced, Calif.

A Probably not, I'm afraid. Occasionally, a real 1840 note, printed on heavy white paper, turns up in somebody's attic. If you have one, it's worth about $175 to $225. Alack and alas, the more common find, parchmentlike documents that crack when you crease them, are probably the most common fakes in North America. They started life innocently enough when mailed out in promotional brochures in the '50s, but many people kept them, thinking they were real. Fortunately, it won't happen again: federal law now requires all replicas to be clearly marked as copies.