You may use either if the premise is contrary to fact, and you are using a conditional construction, e.g. "I was/were rich, I would move my money to Panama". In that case, "were" is more common in US English, and is also fine in UK English, particularly in formal contexts. But otherwise, and if you are talking about something in the past, you need "was", e.g. "If I was unclear, I can explain it again".