The other day my housekeeper gave me the heads up that the gardener had had a death in the family. She wasn’t just preparing me to extend my sympathies. She was warning me to expect him to ask for a donation towards the funeral expenses. Death is expensive and most people on minimum wage simply do not have the thousands of dollars necessary to meet those expenses. In fact most people find the costs associated with funerals to be quite prohibitive. But death is inevitable –in fact Benjamin Franklin reminded us that nothing is certain in life except death and taxes. So why are we so unprepared to deal with the former?
Fortunately not everyone is unprepared and we can learn from the “wise virgins” among us. When my housekeeper’s husband died she was able to draw on an insurance policy that she had taken out years before. In other cases the deceased has made their own preparations by paying ahead of time for some expenses and leaving funds for the rest. Can you imagine the relief when grieving family members know that one thing that they don’t have to stress about is where to find the money to pay for the funeral?
So how can you prepare for the expenses related to funerals? I’m writing this for my my blog readers who may have to bury older relatives but it’s also important for us to consider this information for our own lives.
1. Identify wishes: It is natural for family members to want to do the best for the deceased but what is the best? In some cases it is a simple funeral and in others it is an elaborate funeral. Finding out what your relative wants before they go gives you a chance to prepare financially and to help them to prepare financially. It also means that you can resist emotional pleas from funeral directors and family members and friends to choose certain options or packages. You might want to consider writing down your personal wishes and letting others know where to find it.
2. Insurance: Research to find the best policy for your situation. Of course as you know insurance is cheaper when you are younger and healthier so start early for yourself. However, even as you get older you can get a simple burial policy. If your older relative cannot afford the cost it may make financial sense to pay for their insurance yourself. Of course trust is a big issue when you are insuring the life of another person.
3. Prepayment: Burial plots and caskets can be chosen and paid for ahead of time. Not only does this relieve the family of the expenses at the time of death but it is one less decision for grieving loved ones to make.
4. Dedicated/Allocated Savings : – Some expenses cannot be prepaid but a savings account dedicated to funeral expenses can take care of these expenses. If the person is living overseas and desires to be buried in the land of their birth, then the costs of shipping the body home and so on have to be factored in as well. Of course this applies to you as well if you live overseas.
If you’ve ever been involved in planning a funeral for a loved one you know how emotionally draining it is. It can also be a time for conflict and confusion as family members scramble to meet expenses and argue about what type of funeral the deceased would have wanted. Preparing ahead of time is one less thing to worry about and may be the deceased’s final gift to the family.
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