Many Baby Boomers have reached the age where they are being called on to help care for aging family members and friends, often taking on the role of Caregiver.

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Considering the high levels of stress experienced by caregivers, we strongly encourage them to take advantage of any help that’s available. For example, Caregivers often use meal delivery services and home cleaning services to reduce or eliminate some daily tasks. Another extremely helpful service is a bill management service or bill pay concierge.

By delegating some money management responsibilities to professionals, caregivers can reduce some of their burden, placing this important role in capable hands. The CDC reports that 25% of baby boomers were serving as active caregivers based on a study conducted from 2015 to 2017, with boomers accounting for 38.5% of the total caregiver population.

SilverBills offers a bill-paying service that is intended to alleviate the stress associated with assuming the financial responsibilities of a loved one.

What is SilverBills?

SilverBills provides a bill-pay concierge utilized by caregivers, busy individuals, and seniors who would benefit from the assistance of a daily money manager. Boomers can turn over the time-consuming task of scrutinizing and paying bills to a professional money manager.

SilverBills offers some client support. An Account Manager contacts customers by phone, text or email, depending on what method they say works best for them. In fact, in a demographic where some seniors resist computers and technology at every turn, SilverBills makes every effort to make the working relationship as seamless as possible.

How Silverbills Works

When you decide to sign up with SilverBills, you are paired up with an Account Manager as your contact, communicating with them via email, text, mail or phone based on your personal preference. Account Managers don’t simply send out payments based on bills. They actually review and reconcile accounts to be sure that the charges make sense based on previous activity, protecting you against overcharges. They contact you if they have questions or if they see something problematic that needs to be discussed.

As a customer, you can turn over one bill, a few of your bills or all of your invoices that need to be paid. The customer is in the driver’s seat and can utilize this bill management service to suit their needs.

Getting started is as easy as sending in the bills and signed agreement in a business envelope with prepaid postage or via email, fax, text or online in a secure upload. Once received, SilverBills goes to work reviewing, paying and storing your bills. Monthly statements are sent out to customers that summarize the monthly activity, breaking it down for comparison purposes into actual spend amounts versus budgeted spend amounts and the date and type of payment made.

SilverBills will set up a system so that future bills will be sent directly to them for expeditious processing. There will be a lot less mail for you to sort through once you’re officially signed on as a client.

Examples of Bills Paid By SilverBills:

Cell phone bills
Landline bills
Insurance premiums
Charitable contributions
Cable service
Medical bills
Pharmacy bills
Country club membership dues
Landscaper invoices
Dental bills
Cosmetic procedure bills
Credit card bills
Prepaid funeral bills
Cleaning service bills
Gym fees
Homeowner’s association fees
Physician’s bills
Loan payments
Mortgage payments
Condo fees
Real estate taxes

Benefits of Using a Bill Pay Service like Silverbills

1. Bills are paid on time and for the correct amount.

Billing errors are common and can cost unsuspecting seniors a lot of money if not caught. A trained bills manager professional is likely to spot irregularities that might not be obvious to others.

When a caregiver is new to the bills and financial landscape of their charge, it can be especially difficult to notice something out of the ordinary without spending a lot of time reviewing paperwork and past bills. That’s why a bill pay service is such a practical tool for caregivers who are already juggling more than they can handle comfortably in many cases.

2. SilverBills organizes bills, making tax season less complicated.

When tax season arrives, people using SilverBills can find what they need via one easily accessible portal. This type of service is particularly helpful when trying to locate information pertaining to charitable donations and medical expenses. In fact, many caregivers and customers provide written authorization so that their accountants can access documents and receipts as needed to prepare tax returns.

3. Instead of multiple passwords for each vendor, you only have to remember one password to access billing information.

Keeping up with passwords is a challenge for most of us, but becomes even more frustrating when you have to keep up with someone else’s. Caregivers can rely on knowing one password to access SilverBills and their loved one’s bills paying history.

4. Peace of mind for caregivers and customers is one major benefit that is hard to put a price on.

At the end of the day, it is nice to know that your bills are paid and that your financial life is secure. The mental toll that taking care of a loved one takes is substantial. The last thing anyone wants is the electricity or WiFi cut off for a loved one because of an unpaid bill that was misplaced or unpaid.

SilverBills guarantees that all bills will be paid on time. Paying bills is one important task that caregivers are happy to turn over to the experts.

5. SilverBills offers customers state-of-the-art security.

With identity theft on the rise, you can’t be too careful these days with your financial information. SilverBills values the importance of security and has stored client data in an IBM database protected by firewalls and encryption algorithms.

Every customer transaction comes under review by human auditors, the assigned Account Manager and AI algorithms. Two-factor authentication is also employed to ensure that client and staff logins are authorized.

6. Improves credit scores resulting from bills paid on time.

Credit scores drop when bills aren’t paid on time. That’s why it is easy to understand how an illness or mental challenges can negatively impact credit scores. By assigning bill paying to trusted professionals, many customers report a rise in their credit scores.

7. Eliminates the frustration of searching for bills.

There is nothing more infuriating than getting a late due notice and then not being able to find a record of the bill. SilverBills provides easy access to old bills that are stored on a secure portal. Caregivers are especially thankful for having this type of resource available as they are often called on to “look into” billing problems that arise.

8. SilverBills is an affordable, flat-fee service that is easy to use.

One of the features that appeal to customers the most is the flat fee charged for the services. That means there are no surprises when it is time to pay the bill.

Everything is paid for in one simple fee. That includes postage and the envelopes that are pre-addressed in cases where they are required to complete billing. Additional envelopes are also provided at no additional charge.

9. SilverBills is “low-tech” and easy to use, making it simple for boomers and caregivers who sometimes prefer more traditional ways to communicate and do business.

Baby boomers and older generations can rest assured that they won’t be forced to install an app or learn how to use website software to participate in SilverBills. This bill pay concierge makes customers a priority and welcomes the way they want to communicate either by phone, text, email or regular mail. It’s always the customer’s choice.

10. SilverBills is responsive to changing personal financial circumstances and new bills.

The world of accounts payable has gotten more complicated in the past decade. There’s ACH debit, checks and other ways to pay for products and services.

Vendors typically have a preferred method of payment. Typically, there are two types of bills, recurring and incidental one-time expenses. You can send any single bill in for payment. While it might seem easy to pay a single, unrecurring bill on your own, by submitting it to SilverBills, there is a record of the transaction for safekeeping.

11. Customers have one dedicated Account Manager in charge of their account.

SilverBills recognizes the frustration people endure when they can’t get a quick answer or call back from a company representative. That’s why having a responsive Account Manager is so important in building solid relationships. The last thing a busy caregiver needs is to feel like they can’t get an answer when they need one.

12. SilverBills has earned a reputation for top service and trustworthiness.

SilverBills is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau. Their credentials are impeccable. They have been insured since 2014 and have never had a claim filed against them.

13. SilverBills makes it easy for caregivers to step in as needed.

A simple authorization provided by the customer allows caregivers to work on behalf of their loved one. The Account Manager is allowed to provide login information to authorized caregivers.

14. Silverbills eliminates risk.

Customers can cancel at any time with no risk. All personal billing information is destroyed at the time of cancellation.

Summary

Baby boomers are now taking care of their parents, friends and spouses who are beginning to need additional support both mentally and physically with advancing years. Being able to rely on SilverBills as a financial manager in charge of paying bills and storing the data is extremely helpful. This bill management service offers peace of mind to caregivers who are in need of support from trusted financial professionals.