If you’ve got a checking account with Senior BofI, you can enjoy the convenience and safety of paying your bills online.

The advantages are obvious – no more envelopes, stamps or searching for addresses. Once you’ve entered your bill paying information, it’s always there – ready when you are to pay those bills.

It’s easy to set up. And it’s easy to change. You can add payees, delete payees and change payment dates any time you like.

Get complete information on our Bill Payment page.

If you don't yet have a checking account with us, why not open one now.

Something like 40% of people over 60 have some sort of memory problems according to an article on Science Daily. In general it seems this is caused by the gradual loss of brain cells and changes in brain chemistry.

The article, Rote Learning Improves Memory In Seniors, describes a study where seniors spent 6 weeks of intensive memory training followed by six weeks without it. At the end of the 12 week period, all of the 25 volunteers were able to learn and remember better than they were at the start of the study.

It does appear that using the mind is one of the best ways to keep it in shape.

Credit cards can be a great convenience, but they are not problem free. The first thing to remember is that you are actually barrowing money. Which means, unless you pay off the balance with in the specified time period you will be charged interest.

The secret to protecting yourself is understanding the terms and conditions of your particular card. This is getting more and more difficult. According to Educating Rico: The fine print, a story on America Public Media’s Market Place Money, changes in terms and conditions can sneak up on you.

Pay attention to any changes in the terms and conditions you receive from your credit card company, and if you don’t understand them, call and ask. Usually you’ll find a toll free number – use it and don’t be embarrassed to ask lots of questions; after all, its your money.

Senior BofI offers credits cards through BofI and we’re always happy to answer any question you might have.

Every now and again emails begin appearing warning cell phone users their cell phone numbers are about to be released to telemarketers. Visions of receiving sales calls and being charged for them begin to loom large.

The first thing to know is this is one of those urban legends. According to Privacy Rights, the rumor probably got started when the wireless industry started talking about creating an opt-in 411 directory. That’s still in the works and even if it happens, you’d have to choose to be part of it.

The second thing to know is you can register your cell phone on the National Do Not Call Registry, either at their website or by calling 888-382-1222 from the phone you want to register.

It can’t hurt to register you cell phone – then you can be certain you can ignore the emails with the warnings.

It’s awfully easy to get caught up in the Holiday spirit and spend way too much on gifts. How much is too much? It all depends on you and your resources. But if you run up credit card bills that take months to pay off, you’ve probably spent to much.

You can go a long ways toward stopping over spending with a spending plan or budget.

Nance Kelly, About.com’s Guide to Finance and Credit has a page called It’s Time To Create Your Holiday Spending Plan. It has some great tips, plus links to saving money on decorations and other holiday issues.

Senior BofI offers both credit cards and a variety of savings accounts.

With Thanksgiving approaching, it might be a good idea to review how to cook the big bird. These links may help:

1. USDA Offers Tips on Safe and Easy Thanksgiving Cooking. The article includes several downloadable links.
   
2. Linda Larson, Guide to Busy Cooks at About.com has a page called Let's Talk Turkey which has lots of tips and recipes.
   
3. IVillage offers 5 Tips for Carving a Turkey.
   
4. AARP offers Enjoy the Holidays Without Gaining Santa's Belly

If you're cooking, or if you're not, take time to enjoy the holiday.

Senior BofI offers a variety of savings accounts to help you maximize your savings.

We were interested to find this article called Six Money-Saving Tips for Senior Citizens.

AAA in Texas has a good article on how to save money on your car and your driving.

What are your favorite tips for saving money?

Send us an email or write a comment here.

Although there are lots of advantages to getting older, the slow reduction in physical flexibility isn’t one of them! Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to start and maintain a stretching program that will go a long way toward both restoring flexibility and increasing energy.

Paige Waehner, About.com’s Guide to Exercise has a good page on Total Body Stretch for Seniors – the thing I like about it is the pictures. With a click, each one expands so you get a clear understanding of what you need to do.

And if you’d like more background on why stretching works, check out AARP’s Stretch for Flexibility.

If you have a Senior BofI account you can add funds by wire or wire funds from your account to someone else within the United States. A wire transfer is quicker and often safer than sending money by mail.

The details of how to receive or send money via wire can be found on our Wire Instructions page.

As always, if you have any questions about wiring funds or any other banking issue, feel free to contact us.

For almost three decades, AARP has offered Drivers Safety Courses. Aimed at drivers 50 years old or older, the aim has been to help senior drivers tune up their driving knowledge, learn about age-related driving issues and generally make you a safer driver. The courses have, until recently, required showing up at a classroom somewhere, often on a Saturday and sitting through a presentation and taking a test to get a certificate. In many cases, passing the course has meant a reduction in auto insurance premiums.

Now you can take the course online from the comfort of your own home. It’s a self-paced presentation and once you complete it, a certificate will be mailed to you. Like the classroom presentations, the online certificate may reduce your auto insurance rates.

If you’re a member of AARP, the online Drivers Safety Course costs $15.95; if you’re not a member, its $19.95

There are all sorts of good reasons to barrow money and Senior BofI has many loan programs, including:

• Credit Cards

• Reverse Mortgages

• Home Loans

• Home Equity Loans

• Loans on Apartment Houses

• Loans on Commercial Property

• Overdraft Protection

Our Loan Center page will give you the details you need.

The end of the year holidays are almost upon us. It’s a time of great joy for many, yet others find the whole thing depressing. One of the nicest gifts you can give yourself during this period is by volunteering. There are lots of ways to get involved:

Your community probably offers special holiday meals to the homeless and others in need. These organizations often welcome volunteers to serve food and help in other ways.

• If you belong to a church, stay alert for volunteer opportunities there.
  

• Your local senior center is likely to need your help.
  

• Senior Corps (RSVP) is a national organization offering volunteer opportunities.
  

• Helpguide.org offers both volunteer opportunities and shows you how to decide the best opportunity for you.

• The United Way has volunteer opportunities in many communities
  

Folks who volunteer often find they not only have fun doing it, it provides connections and friends.

Senior BofI offers a variety of CDs or Certificates of Deposit. These investment products pay a fixed amount of interest over the period of their life, making it easy to understand exactly how much your savings will grow. The amount of interest varies according to the length of time monies are left on deposit.

You can choose from these types of CDs:

• Individual CD

• Joint CD

• UTMA CD

• Trust CD - (Family & Inter Vivos)

• Non Profit Corporation - (Charities)

Details are available on our Certificate of Deposit page.

Hearing loss is one of those things seniors would rather not think about. Yet hearing loss is second only to lower back pain in terms of numbers, according to The Cleveland Clinic Information Center. The same page gives an excellent overview of the causes of hearing loss.

Hearing loss can affect you and your relationships in many ways. Everything from missing important parts of conversations to discomfort in places with lots of people can often be the result of changes in your hearing.

Sharon O'Brien, About.com’s Guide to Senior Living, has solid information about the kinds of hearing aids and their alternative Assistive Devices that are available today.

If you suspect hearing loss, check with your healthcare professional.

You probably know we think banking over the ‘net is absolutely the best way in the world to do your banking. We think of ourselves as your community bank, wherever you are.

But we also recognize that sometimes you may want to do your banking by phone. Maybe you don’t have your laptop handy or set up at the moment, or are having problems with your connection to the internet.

Which is why we also offer telephone banking. You can check your loan or deposit balance, transfer funds, or verify the payment of a check. Anytime. From anywhere, just by calling (877) 351-BANK (2265).

And yes, that’s a toll free call.

If you blog or have a website, it’s fun to have photos. Of course, you can take them yourself – digital cameras are perfect for this.

But sometimes you may want a photo of something else entirely. Maybe you are in California and would like an iconic photo of New York. Or maybe you want a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge before you get there to take your own.

And, of course, you want to be sure it’s okay to use the photos you choose – without violating any copyright rule.

One of the best sites for free photos is stock.xchng. You’ll need to register, but that’s free. Then, once you log in, you can do a search on almost any topic. For example, today I entered the word camera and was given 47 pages of choices – way too many. I tried searching on digital camera which reduced my search to manageable levels.

I picked a picture, and clicked on the thumbnail to see the larger version. Not every photo is free, some have restrictions, but how you can use the photo is made perfectly clear under the big picture. I chose one that said There are no usage restrictions for this photo. And you see the result here.

Easy breezy and fun.