Prepaying for your funeral sounds like a great idea to save your family stress and money, but here are a few things you need to know before taking that route.
This video article is so misleading. A funeral preplan is like any other transaction you engage in, know what you are paying for. Funeral preplanning has save my families tons of money over the years.
This story is uninformed. That's not pre-arranging. Pre-arranging involves a whole-life policy or annuity. By law, you cannot give a Funeral Home money for prearranging. The funeral home gets no money until the funeral occurs and they file a claim against the policy. This is standard practice. There are items that can change in price. The cost of flowers, honorariums, music, and opening & closing of a grave can be outside the funeral home's services. Those items are only estimated in the pre-planning process to lessen the cost down the road. Some funeral homes own their own cemeteries and monument companies. But, that is not the norm. So, anything outside the services and products provided BY A FUNERAL HOME are not guaranteed because they can not be guaranteed. Planning ahead saves thousands of dollars. But, sometimes, those non-guaranteed services provided by outside sources can increase with inflation. Any good Funeral Director or Licensed insurance advisor explains the process thoroughly. That way the person pre-planning can make an informed decision. The bottom line, pre-planning is a huge money safer. It is a wise business decision. Shop around for price guarantees. Your whole life policy or annuity is a smart decision.
Actually it depends on where you live. Around here, oh yes you can prepay, families do it all the time. That's why I can honestly say it depends where you live. We had a funeral home do a merger, and another Funeral Home offered to let me transfer my arrangements over to his funeral home. He was willing to take all the clients from the other Funeral Home. When you prepay, get multiple copies of all documents and all receipts where you made a payment. Keep all of those copies together Families have been prepaying their funerals for I don't know how long around here so it depends on where you live Another thing to pay attention to is once you prepay, if you pay off your funeral then around here anyway, you're guaranteed to get that product or a substitute at the price you paid at the time you made your arrangements. We have another family owned funeral home around here, same thing. Once you make your arrangements and pay them off, your covered. We have family-owned funeral homes that have been around for I don't know how long. Two of them have left but other funeral homes have taken the clients if the funeral home didn't merge. Now if the funeral home did merge, then the clients go with them if they want to stay. One particular funeral home is part of a corporation now, where is the another one just has one or two branches. Then you have another funeral home that just has one little branch. Around here, family-owned funeral homes are still the norm. These funeral homes deal with their own local community. There was one particular gentleman who was paying on his arrangements monthly, because he said he was going up there and making payments. Then he went under guardianship as his mind deteriorated under Alzheimer's. I just hope his Guardian honored his wishes because he died very shortly after going under Guardianship and being placed into a nursing home. Anyone who's ever had a loved one under Guardianship and dealt with hospice will know what kind of risk is out there and what's really going on despite your wishes to live a long healthy life and have your last wishes honored. That's why we need to wise up and refuse to go with these vultures that come swooping in. Anyone who remembers Marty Oakley who spoke on guardianship on TS radio will know she almost got taken not once, but twice. Thankfully she was smart enough to be able to get out of it and escaped safely. She knew the system far better than many people. Knowledge is power, and power means prevention
Some people don't realize that the funeral home and cemetery are separate. Preparing for your funeral via a funeral home takes care of picking up the deceased, preparing them for viewings/cremation/visitations/ caskets. There are things prearranging cannot guarantee, like 3rd party expenses and taxes of merchandise. The cemetery you pay for the space, the opening and closing of the grave and memorialization. Funeral home prearrangements are commonly guaranteed via insurance. Cemetery you can prepay for spaces, opening and closing, and memorials ahead of time by financing if need be, called pre-need. I believe it's up to the persons who are servicing the families to explain these things. I've seen families who prearrange and families who don't. Big difference. $500 to open and close a grave is not as expensive as other places, especially a ground space that requires digging.
If your Funeral Home has a price guarantee, then funeral planning is excellent. In addition, since you are pre-planning by buying a simple whole-life policy, it remains YOUR money. If you move, you can take YOUR money with you. Also, if you are drawing down assets to qualify for Medicaid, making your policy "irrevocable" protects it from being considered an asset. Pre-planning SAVES MONEY, takes the BURDEN off of your family, and gives you control of your own arrangements. It's a no-brainer. It works.
Why anyone pre- pay for anything? Why not place the money in an account that pays you interest over time and then have your estate use the funds to pay your funeral cost? Would you give someone money in advance to purchase a car?
Pre planning locks in today's prices. A funeral today could cost $20,000 between funeral home and cemetery charges when there is a death. 10 years from now the same thing might be $30,000. Pre planning locks in guaranteed items, but not 3rd party expenses. Plus, buying cemetery property and services ahead of time gives you more options for discounts and financing. A lot of cemeteries will offer pre need discounts. Very seldom will you find a discount when someone passes. I recommend that you get a consultation with your local funeral home and cemetery. They are required by law to provide price lists.
This video article is so misleading. A funeral preplan is like any other transaction you engage in, know what you are paying for. Funeral preplanning has save my families tons of money over the years.
This story is uninformed. That's not pre-arranging. Pre-arranging involves a whole-life policy or annuity. By law, you cannot give a Funeral Home money for prearranging. The funeral home gets no money until the funeral occurs and they file a claim against the policy. This is standard practice. There are items that can change in price. The cost of flowers, honorariums, music, and opening & closing of a grave can be outside the funeral home's services. Those items are only estimated in the pre-planning process to lessen the cost down the road. Some funeral homes own their own cemeteries and monument companies. But, that is not the norm. So, anything outside the services and products provided BY A FUNERAL HOME are not guaranteed because they can not be guaranteed. Planning ahead saves thousands of dollars. But, sometimes, those non-guaranteed services provided by outside sources can increase with inflation. Any good Funeral Director or Licensed insurance advisor explains the process thoroughly. That way the person pre-planning can make an informed decision. The bottom line, pre-planning is a huge money safer. It is a wise business decision. Shop around for price guarantees. Your whole life policy or annuity is a smart decision.
Actually it depends on where you live. Around here, oh yes you can prepay, families do it all the time. That's why I can honestly say it depends where you live. We had a funeral home do a merger, and another Funeral Home offered to let me transfer my arrangements over to his funeral home. He was willing to take all the clients from the other Funeral Home.
When you prepay, get multiple copies of all documents and all receipts where you made a payment.
Keep all of those copies together
Families have been prepaying their funerals for I don't know how long around here so it depends on where you live
Another thing to pay attention to is once you prepay, if you pay off your funeral then around here anyway, you're guaranteed to get that product or a substitute at the price you paid at the time you made your arrangements. We have another family owned funeral home around here, same thing. Once you make your arrangements and pay them off, your covered. We have family-owned funeral homes that have been around for I don't know how long. Two of them have left but other funeral homes have taken the clients if the funeral home didn't merge. Now if the funeral home did merge, then the clients go with them if they want to stay. One particular funeral home is part of a corporation now, where is the another one just has one or two branches.
Then you have another funeral home that just has one little branch. Around here, family-owned funeral homes are still the norm. These funeral homes deal with their own local community. There was one particular gentleman who was paying on his arrangements monthly, because he said he was going up there and making payments. Then he went under guardianship as his mind deteriorated under Alzheimer's. I just hope his Guardian honored his wishes because he died very shortly after going under Guardianship and being placed into a nursing home. Anyone who's ever had a loved one under Guardianship and dealt with hospice will know what kind of risk is out there and what's really going on despite your wishes to live a long healthy life and have your last wishes honored. That's why we need to wise up and refuse to go with these vultures that come swooping in. Anyone who remembers Marty Oakley who spoke on guardianship on TS radio will know she almost got taken not once, but twice. Thankfully she was smart enough to be able to get out of it and escaped safely. She knew the system far better than many people. Knowledge is power, and power means prevention
Some people don't realize that the funeral home and cemetery are separate. Preparing for your funeral via a funeral home takes care of picking up the deceased, preparing them for viewings/cremation/visitations/ caskets. There are things prearranging cannot guarantee, like 3rd party expenses and taxes of merchandise. The cemetery you pay for the space, the opening and closing of the grave and memorialization. Funeral home prearrangements are commonly guaranteed via insurance. Cemetery you can prepay for spaces, opening and closing, and memorials ahead of time by financing if need be, called pre-need.
I believe it's up to the persons who are servicing the families to explain these things.
I've seen families who prearrange and families who don't. Big difference. $500 to open and close a grave is not as expensive as other places, especially a ground space that requires digging.
If your Funeral Home has a price guarantee, then funeral planning is excellent. In addition, since you are pre-planning by buying a simple whole-life policy, it remains YOUR money. If you move, you can take YOUR money with you. Also, if you are drawing down assets to qualify for Medicaid, making your policy "irrevocable" protects it from being considered an asset. Pre-planning SAVES MONEY, takes the BURDEN off of your family, and gives you control of your own arrangements. It's a no-brainer. It works.
. i strongly agree and don't want to have a funeral anyways .
How can I be cremated and have my ashes put in a dumpster without anyone knowing?
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Old dude had to throw in that “bare bones”
Comment. Psychopath.
How does this apply to everyone? It was a small business, it does save money with rates going up. I never had a problem with my loved ones plans.
Why anyone pre- pay for anything? Why not place the money in an account that pays you interest over time and then have your estate use the funds to pay your funeral cost? Would you give someone money in advance to purchase a car?
Pre planning locks in today's prices. A funeral today could cost $20,000 between funeral home and cemetery charges when there is a death. 10 years from now the same thing might be $30,000. Pre planning locks in guaranteed items, but not 3rd party expenses.
Plus, buying cemetery property and services ahead of time gives you more options for discounts and financing. A lot of cemeteries will offer pre need discounts. Very seldom will you find a discount when someone passes. I recommend that you get a consultation with your local funeral home and cemetery. They are required by law to provide price lists.
Is there a reason why you couldn’t keep the money planned for your death in an account that pays you interest over time?
Please do a story on Smart Cremations.