Advanced Planning
No one likes to think about death, let alone plan for it. In many families, discussing one’s mortality is an extremely uncomfortable topic. Yet it makes a lot of sense.
Benefits
If you have recently made funeral arrangements for a family member or friend, you are fully aware of the required decisions made during great stress. How much better it would be to make these decisions without the deadline element!
With funeral preplanning, you relieve your family of having to make important financial decisions during a period of great stress and grief. If you set aside the funds as well, either by a funeral insurance policy or funeral trust, your family will be relieved of the financial burden. They won’t be apt to overspend out of guilt. And they won’t have to worry about your wishes because you made them yourself.
When the subject of death comes up, people often say, “Don’t make a fuss. I don’t want a ceremony. Bury me or cremate me and just be done with it.” But it is important to realize that the ritual of a funeral or memorial service isn’t for the deceased, but for the living. It is a time when friends and family can gather together to grieve openly and to provide support for one another. It is the start of the grief journey.
Funeral preplanning can be as informal and simple as jotting down your preferences on a sheet of paper and giving us a copy to file with our records. Just drop in during business hours or call ahead for an appointment. Certainly share the details with your family. At the time of death they know to call us and we will know what to do.
More formal funeral preplanning arrangements can be made in the form of a funded preneed contract. These are known as Guaranteed Contract for Funeral Goods and Services. You essentially purchase your funeral at today’s price. Your funds are kept in third-party accounts. If you go on Medicaid, you are allowed (and encouraged) to set aside approximately $9,000 in an Irrevocable Guaranteed Contract for Funeral Goods and Services. Other insurance policies have to be reduced to $2,000 before qualifying for Medicaid. In this scenario, advance planning is a smart financial move.
Funeral preplanning can also cost less, in the long run, when paid in the short run. The service and merchandise prices are frozen at today’s prices. Casket prices typically rise three percent a year, for example. It is well know that people tend to spend less on merchandise when they are not in the throes of grief.
With funeral preplanning you can:
- Make all the arrangements during a time of peace
- Relieve your family of distress
- Make your wishes known
- Control the cost of funeral and protect from inflation
- Ensure personal records are organized and easy for your survivors to locate
- Protect your insurance so that it provides for your survivors and not funeral expenses
If you would like more information about preplanning, call us at (586) 412-8999.