Planning Your Legacy with Final Expense Funeral Insurance

You probably put a lot of work into planning for big milestones – things like college, a wedding, the birth of a child, and retirement. You may plan for smaller things, too, like birthdays, vacations, and even meals. You create plans for your life – but are you forgetting to plan for the end of your life? 

Thinking about funerals can be difficult when you’ve been trained to avoid discussions of death and money. Here’s the thing, though – everyone will need a funeral eventually, and they can be expensive and stressful for the family members who have to arrange them. 

Final expense funeral insurance provides a solution. You get to plan your legacy and decide exactly what kind of funeral you want. Your loved ones get to relinquish the burden of trying to figure out – and pay for – the type of funeral they think you would want.

How Much Does a Funeral Cost?

Funerals are expensive, but exactly how much one will cost depends on many factors. For example, will burial or cremation be used? What type of casket and burial vault or urn will be used? What type of ceremony will be held?

The National Funeral Directors Association says that the national median cost for an adult funeral with a viewing, burial, and vault is $9,135. Cremation tends to be less expensive, with the median cost of a funeral and viewing coming in at $5,150. Many families have not set aside funds for funerals, so this cost can cause financial hardship. 

To make matters worse, many people accrue medical bills at the end of their life, adding to the unexpected funeral expenses. Families may have to deal with hospital bills, hospice bills, and other care costs. Any debt that is left when a person dies will need to be paid by the estate, and this can reduce or even eliminate any inheritance that family members are supposed to receive. If any debts remain after the estate has been depleted, the debt may be forgiven, but this isn’t always the case. According to CNN, nearly 30 states have filial laws that require adult children to pay for bills from hospitals or nursing homes when these debts cannot be covered by the estate. 

What Is Final Expense Insurance or Burial Insurance?

Final expense insurance is a type of life insurance that is designed specifically to cover final expenses, including burial and medical bills. It is sometimes called funeral insurance or burial insurance. 

Life insurance policies often have a large benefit, called the death benefit, that can replace lost income and help the survivors pay off mortgages, fund a child’s college education, or cover other major expenses. Final expense insurance provides a much more modest death benefit in comparison. Many policies provide benefits of about $5,000 to $20,000, and the benefits may max out at around $50,000. 

Another difference is the application process. Life insurance policies often require a medical exam, but final expense life insurance can often be purchased from an insurance company without a medical exam. Also, securing life insurance typically becomes much more difficult as the applicant ages, but older applicants may still qualify for final expense insurance. 

Creating Your Final Plan

If you’ve never been involved in planning a funeral, you might not realize how many decisions have to be made. For example…

• Do you want to choose a burial or cremation? Data from the National Funeral Directors Association shows that cremation is becoming more popular. In 2010, cremation accounted for 40.4% of final arrangements. By 2020, that figure went up to an estimated 56%. By 2040, it’s expected that about 78.4% of final arrangements will be cremations. 

• What type of casket do you want? Do you want a burial vault or grave liner? The cost varies tremendously based on the style and materials used. An expensive casket might cost around $1,000, but some caskets cost more than $10,000. 

• What will the resting place or the remains be? There are many things to consider when selecting the location of a burial plot. Many couples chose to be buried next to each other, and families may want their loved ones to be buried nearby so they can visit the grave. There are also costs to consider, including cost and maintenance fees. There are many options for cremation remains, including placement in a burial plot or an urn in a columbarium. Cremation remains may also be kept in an urn at home or scattered. 

• What type of funeral service or memorial do you want? There are many options, from solemn graveside services and wakes to celebrations of life. Selecting the right service, or a combination of services, is an important part of deciding how to remember a loved one. 

• What kind of headstone or grave marker do you want? This is an important monument, and it doesn’t have to be boring. One Utah woman had her fudge recipe engraved on her tombstone! 

• Will embalming be needed? This is not always needed, but it may be necessary when a public viewing is held.

These questions can be overwhelming for grieving loved ones, and family conflicts may arise over disagreements about what the deceased would have wanted.

Planning the funeral ahead of time allows families to avoid this difficult process, along with the uncertainty and costs that come with funeral planning. It also gives you the opportunity to make your wishes known. You can arrange for precisely the type of funeral you want, so your loved ones will be able to say goodbye and remember you exactly the way you want them to. And with a final expense policy, you can make sure that the funeral expenses will be covered.

Is Final Expense Life Insurance Right for You?

For many people, final expense life insurance provides a practical way to plan for funeral costs and take control of one’s legacy. If you’d like to learn more about how affordable and easy final expense life insurance can be, start your final expense quote now.