Death is inevitable and you cannot avoid it. You can find it hard to pre-plan your funeral and also in getting to know when you need to start the planning of your funeral. But avoiding this conversation can take your family into financial troubles and emotional instability. Pre-paid funeral is not a product but a strategy. It is the process of taking the steps for laying out everything that is connected with your funeral and also preparation for your funeral home as well.
Here in this article, we will talk about the pre-paid funeral, their benefits, and how they actually work. They are the right thing to do for you and your family.
What is a Pre-paid Funeral Plan?
If you are thinking that what is pre-paid funeral plan and is it workable for me? Then the information we are going to share with you can help you to get a better idea. Pre-paid funeral protects you from the ever-rising costs of arranging a funeral. It also makes you able to pay for your own funeral before leaving the world, so that your family members and loved ones do not have to do that for you. Going with a funeral plan in your life can make your family less worried about it in their emotional time of losing you.
Pre-paid funeral means planning to prepare the funeral home for your funeral in the future. It has a few steps that can layout all things that are connected with a funeral. The costs can be of:
- A casket or cremation
- Funeral services
- Obituary information
- Headstone
- Medication in end days
How Pre-paid Funeral Plan Works?
Preplanning the funeral makes your family members able to place your plan to execution in actions with knowing your desires and wishes. You can start by making a thorough plan with the right planner you want. It includes the available locations of services, estimated costs, and other details that are necessary to be included in the plan. This can happen in a few steps below:
- Choose a Right Plan
While choosing a plan for your funeral, think about the budget first. Think of how much you are willing to spend on your funeral and what services you would like. You can weigh up the pros and cons of the plan and then note down the exact details of what things need to be included with the comparison of costs of a funeral organization.
- Choose a payment option
In this step, you need to make sure what payment method you will be adopting. Are you going to make a lump sum payment or paying in installments? A good plan fixes all costs of the funeral services at the prices of the present, so the family members won’ have to pay a single penny for the services of your funeral.
- Setup a Plan
Either you are buying a plan for yourself or anyone else, setting up a plan is not hard. You can buy a plan online or put an application with all your requirements to send over to the service providers. You will get a membership card and all the documents that will have every detail. You can share the copy with your family members as well. When the time comes, they can easily act upon those instructions and can arrange the funeral as per your desires.
Types of Pre-paid Funerals
There are multiple options to choose from if you want to make a pre-paid funeral plan:
- Whole life Policy
In this type of funeral, you can pay in like a normal insurance policy for life. When you leave this world, your heir will receive the payout for making payments for funeral arrangements.
- Revocable Trust
In a revocable trust, you can sign a contract for paying for your funeral through installments. When you will die, the person you choose will use the funds to pay for your funeral.
- Irrevocable Trust
In the irrevocable trust, you can pre-pay your expenses in installments like revokable trust. However, it is a permanent trust that cannot be changed by the one who created it but the trustee will be the one who can make the changes.
- Burial Insurance
A burial insurance policy is the one that covers all the costs of every expense when you die. In this, the beneficiary uses the death benefit as they want.
Benefits of Pre-Paid Funerals
The most important advantage of a pre-paid funeral has already been discussed. It is that you can lock down today’s prices. Funeral expenses are rising constantly, and they can cost more and more in coming years. It is also ideal for those who are willing to take medical benefits by spending their assets.
Issues to Consider Before Making A Pre-Payment for Funeral
- What do you need? Have you thought about the items like a vault, casket, or others? Do you have any thoughts about purchasing traditional funeral services?
- Where will your money go and what happens to the trust income on money?
- What happens if the company you chose is not functional anymore?
- What happens if you relocate to some other city or even a country?
- How long in advance you can plan? Do you have an insurance policy?
- How can your health history affect your plan?
Final Thoughts
Dying is real and this is the most absolute thing you can think of when it comes to planning for the day you die. Your funeral in your consideration should be the best. Rather you do not know when you are going to die so this is why you need to keep in mind a few things to make a pre-paid funeral plan. You can get many benefits out of this plan; the biggest of which is locking down today’s prices and avoiding costly funerals in the future. You also need to keep in mind a few things that can come up when you are in the process of paying for your funeral in advance.