Pre-Funding Your Funeral Makes Good Business Sense

Giving thought to one’s own mortality is never an easy subject but planning for life’s end can ease many burdens for your family and loved ones.  Fortunately, many cemeteries and funeral homes have taken an active role in helping people plan for their own funerals.  This professional consultation has proven to be very valuable to families and individuals who don’t want to have to worry about the costs and decisions that need to be made during a very difficult time of loss and grieving.

Here are some of the reasons it makes sense to plan for a funeral

Ease Financial Obligations

By pre-planning and pre-funding for your funeral, a person has the ability to remove the financial obligations and additional financial stress the funeral expenses will present to a surviving spouse, children and/or other family members. The national average cost of a funeral can range from $7,000 to $10,000 and up.  The final “gift” from you to your loved ones can be making sure funeral costs have been covered so there isn’t an added burden to others when you pass away.

Eliminate Disagreements

By making decisions regarding how much money to spend, and what goods and services should be included for your own funeral, a person can help a family avoid some of the disagreements that arise naturally.  The passing of a loved one is stressful enough, without having to make financial decisions.

Eliminate Emotional ‘Overspending’

When a loved one passes away, loved ones sometimes get caught-up in the emotions of the moment and make choices for the funeral that leads to overspending.  Obviously, this is done out of love, but the same sentiments can be shared by making sound and practical choices at a time when emotions aren’t driving decisions.

Avoid the Cost of Inflation

By pre-planning for a funeral, you can take advantage of today’s prices, thus eliminating the effects of inflation. This is obviously a business decision that could save you and your loved ones hundreds of dollars over the course of time.

Fit Your Budget

By working directly with a funeral director, you can make choices for your funeral that will fit nicely within your budget. Nobody understands your financial position better than you do, so why leave it to others to determine how much money can – and should be – spent on your funeral.

Flexibility

If you decide to pre-plan your funeral, be sure that you are working with a funeral home that will make it easy to transfer your arrangements if that’s what you desire.  Ask the funeral director at the outset what their policy is in regards to transferring your requests to another funeral home, and if it isn’t to your liking, you can find another while you’re still living.

Limited Risk

By pre-planning for your funeral, there is limited risk to your finances.  In fact, if a Medicaid spend-down becomes necessary, a pre-funded funeral is not considered an asset that might affect things, as long as it is irrevocable.  Also, insurance proceeds are available to assist surviving spouse or family to maintain their current lifestyle and settle other expenses such as hospitalization or estate liquidation.  For those who qualify, should death occur during the payment period, the funeral costs will be paid in full.

By planning ahead for your own life’s end, you will create peace of mind not only for your family, but for yourself. 

Michael Long is the director of business development at Fairmount Cemetery. Long graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a Bachelor’s Degree in mortuary science in 2000, and became a licensed funeral director and embalmer. He began his career in funeral service in 1997 in Oklahoma City. Long joined the Fairmount Family in 2013