Sacramento Bee

In response to November's call for a nationwide "Bank Transfer Day," about 610,000 consumers switched from a big bank to a credit union or smaller community bank, according to a recent research survey. Overall, an estimated 5.6 million U.S. consumers switched banks during October-December 2011. Their reasons:

Bank Transfer Day: 11 percent

Too many fees: 26 percent

Getting a new passport or renewing an expired one can be a time-consuming process. But it is possible to do it yourself with proper planning.

Here are some facts and tips to help you "get your papers." For more information, go to www.travel.state.gov.

Q: When do you need a passport?

A: For travel in all foreign countries, including Mexico and Canada.

Catherine Collinson, president of Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies elaborates on the center's retirement-readiness recommendations for women:

Here are guidelines for a deceased person's accounts:

Mark Bitterman, author of "Salted: A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes" and owner of specialty shops in Portland, Ore., and New York City that sell more than 100 varieties of artisanal salt, offers five rules of strategic salting:

1. Eat all the salt you want, as long as you are the one doing the salting.

PAWN SHOPS AT A GLANCE

The model: Pawnshops offer secured loans to individuals who put up personal belongings as collateral. Pawnbrokers also buy items from a seller for a mutually agreed upon price.

Pawn trivia I: The origin of the word pawn is from the Latin pignus, meaning pledge. The pawn business model dates back centuries, to ancient Greece and China.

Here are money-management websites aimed at kids and teens:

DON'T BUY IT

www.pbskids.org/dontbuyit

Funded by the Center for Public Broadcasting, the "Don't Buy It" site teaches kids and teens how to be smart shoppers and avoid advertising "tricks" and slick marketing gimmicks.

THE MINT

www.themint.org

Teens, tweens and phones -- by the numbers:

-- 75 percent of all youths ages 12-17 owned a cellphone in 2009. That's up from only 45 percent in 2004.

-- While the majority got their first cellphone at age 12 to 14, the trend is down to as young as 5- to 9-year-olds.

-- 54 percent of all teens text daily, up from 38 percent in 2008.

Mediterranean mounds or berms have become a popular part of water-wise gardens, taking the place of large sections of lawn.

What is yellow star thistle: A long-lived winter annual native to the Middle East and Mediterranean regions.

Its impact: Displaces desirable vegetation, hurts livestock grazing, contaminates grain harvest, overtakes parks, trails and hillsides.

Where it's at: Covers 15 million acres in California and has spread to 23 other states.