Many have told me they haven't prearranged because it "freaks them out" or they just don't want to think about it or face their own mortality. I totally get that. When I went to mortuary school I had to write my own pre-planned funeral arrangements including my obituary, pick out music for the service, select a casket, vault, purchase cemetery property etc. It was in fact, uncomfortable. But like I said previously, we prepare for what MAY happen and get insurance just in case, we fail to prepare for the inevitable.
In the "old days", funeral homes would take your money and chase banks locally to try to find the best rate of return, deposit your money to hold for you and hope the interest rates would cover inflationary rates when the need came. Well interest rates aren't what they used to be and many are finding their family still has to pony up significant cash at the time.
What some funeral homes (the ones I work for included) do is put your money into insurance AND price guarantee the funeral home costs f-o-r-e-v-e-r. So your $1700 casket today will be sold to your family at the time of need for....you guessed it, $1700. The basic professional service fees, embalming, hearse, vault, calling hours and so much more...all price guaranteed. What's not price guaranteed? Outside costs. They are what other entities or people charge the funeral home. Examples are obituaries, certified copies of the death certificate, clergy, musicians etc. In some cases this could also include the crematory cost however, with the funeral homes I work at, we own our own crematory so that would be a fixed cost and price guaranteed forever.
Funeral homes, for the most part, want to be paid in full by the date of service. Some may offer payment plans with interest. Pre-arranging allows you to enter into a payment plan in most cases which makes things more manageable when spread over 1, 3, 5 or more years.
Based on this simple information you can see how this would benefit you, your family, and or your estate substantially. Price protecting and locking in today's prices forever! It is said that funeral costs double every 8 to 10 years. Here's a great way to keep costs in check, make sure your wishes are adhered to, appoint someone to handle your arrangements outside of the legal next of kin listed by the state, pre-authorize your own cremation if you wish and so many more advantages people don't think of because they simply don't want to.
This is a reality for all of us that once met and handled takes an underlying burden off of many.
The next tidbit I offer will be to answer those who say, "But I already have life insurance."
