final expense insurance

[frank]

I think Monterey298sc has been very objective and informative, and I greatly appreciate his posts here.

+1

 

[brett]

My parents both had low cost pre arranged funerals. Money was not the issue for them. They left verbal instructions that there were to be no upsells.

It certainly made the process easier for me. The funeral home did of course try to upsell by ushering me into the casket showroom. No sale. They had both been to enough elaborate funerals to come to the conclusion that this is no what either of them wanted. I followed their wishes to the letter.

We plan to do the same for our children. We are seeing a growing trend towards no service-church or memorial. Not certain why this is. I do not care one way or the other since I will be long gone.

We have lived in various parts of the country and see a noticeable difference in funerals. The ones in the east were far more formal. Visitations with all the family present, open caskets, suits. Much less so on the west coast and in the western city where we now reside.

 

[Spock]

Not a recommendation, just pointing out companies like Science Care will dispose of your body for free. They'll even mail somebody the cremains if requested.


Just don't be mislead into thinking you're donating your body to science. Its a chop shop that sells the tissues and organs to whoever... although the buyers tend to be research/teaching... they are inserting a middle man and the middle man makes a profit. But what do you care? you're dead.

 

[Monterey298sc]

Yes, when you donate your body or organs, they make a lot of money selling parts to schools.

 

[Spock]

Yes, when you donate your body or organs, they make a lot of money selling parts to schools.

Which isn't a bad thing. We researched cutting out the middle man and donating directly to a med school. Too many hoops to jump through, too many restrictions, etc etc. Science Care made it easy and makes a profit in providing that service.


Edit to add: The casket/urn company makes a profit, the embalming chemical company makes a profit, the head stone company makes a profit, the funeral home makes a profit... so it not like one option is more virtuous than another when it comes to profiting from the dead.

 

[Monterey298sc]

You just said it , YOU DONT CARE! That is the trend. Sadly people don’t care what happens to there loved one Anymore. The trend is NOT CARING what happens to there daughter, son, wife. Just put them on a shelf at home and leave the problem to the new owners of that property that finds the remains. We see that all the time, because people call us to see if we will take the remains when they buy a house .

 

[Spock]

You just said it , YOU DONT CARE! That is the trend. Sadly people don’t care what happens to there loved one Anymore. The trend is NOT CARING what happens to there daughter, son, wife. Just put them on a shelf at home and leave the problem to the new owners of that property that finds the remains. We see that all the time, because people call us to see if we will take the remains when they buy a house .

free kitty litter

 

[MichaelB]

Monterey298sc, it will help others if you use the “quote” button when you respond to a specific post. That way we will know to which post your response is directed.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Please remember Funeral Service Personnel are very respectful by nature, otherwise they could choose a different vocation. They also have significant training. DW worked in a Funeral Home for 20 years, so we/she knows quite a bit. It is not my intention to be disrespectful of them, on the contrary, they REALLY believe in what they say and do. We simply just do not agree.

The upselling and over pricing of services at the expense of the bereaved is what she did not like, even though the service personnel had very honorable intentions, good send off and all that. Eventually it caused here to leave. She loved dealing with folks in need of sympathy/empathy, but was not so happy with the costs of items/services.

We are not religious at all and we would rather our legacy went to our favorite charity that a lavish departing service is all. We also stipulate that we do not want to be stored in a chapel prior to cremation as that would be very hypocritical. That is our choice. Some folks disagree. But please do not mock the practice, each to his or her own.

 

[Monterey298sc]

Monterey298sc, it will help others if you use the “quote” button when you respond to a specific post. That way we will know to which post your response is directed.

Thank you

 

[walkinwood]

Insurance makes sense when there's a pool where some people have negative outcomes & others don't. Eg. House insurance or life insurance (some die early some late).


But in this case, everyone has the same end result, so I don't see how insurance is the right term or makes sense.


Pre-paying is a totally different concept.


We are an ER community. Figure out what the costs are today and put that money aside before you ER. On the other hand, for those of us without pensions, funeral expenses are peanuts compared to living an extra year

 

[gwraigty]

As a funeral home, the contact is always between the person who calls us and is willing to sign a contract for final services. If no one is willing to take financial responsibility with the funeral home directly, we don’t even pick up remains from hospital, hospice ect. Once in our care and then no one is willing to pay for services, the funeral home only option is to pay for cremation out of OUR pocket , bucause the body MUST be taken care of shortly after death. THIS IS THE reason we don’t pick up remains usually until we have a signed contract. This is very rare not to have someone take that responsibility, but it does happen several times a year. You are correct , we can file a claim for the expenses with the estate, however often it is insolvent.

I appreciate that you are explaining clearly how you do business. However, your methods have not been my experience with funeral homes. Granted, it's been several years, so maybe things have changed. In my state, the legal next-of-kin is the only one who has the legal right to deal with the final arrangements. The person who calls the funeral home might not be the person who actually has the right to sign contracts with the funeral home. BTDT with both my parents deaths. And, in both cases, a funeral home took possession of the bodies w/o paperwork being signed beforehand.

I know that many of us here are FI and/or working towards it. It can be hard to believe, but many people are living hand-to-mouth and literally can't come up with even $1000. One of my classmates recently died at the age of 55 and a GoFundMe was posted to raise $1000 for the cremation, because the funeral home wouldn't do anything without the money upfront. That was the first I'd heard of that practice. Until now.

Back to the OP's question. It does make me wonder whether final expenses insurance would be of much use, other than to reimburse the next-of-kin. It would seem not, if the funeral home requires payment upfront.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

You just said it , YOU DONT CARE! That is the trend. Sadly people don’t care what happens to there loved one Anymore. The trend is NOT CARING what happens to there daughter, son, wife. Just put them on a shelf at home and leave the problem to the new owners of that property that finds the remains. We see that all the time, because people call us to see if we will take the remains when they buy a house .

OR...maybe some folks look at the remains as JUST THAT...the remains. The "person" that used the body for their time on earth is no longer there and a lot of people don't see the value on spending THOUSANDS of dollars to deal with remains.

My Mom told me about when she was dealing with the funeral home after her mother died unexpectedly. Even though they didn't have much money, the funeral home continued to push a "sealer casket" that was GUARANTEED not to leak for 20 years. She asked the director if he had ever had any complaints for the users and the director fell silent and that was the end of that up sell. Accordingly, both my Mom and Dad chose to use direct cremation. It was reasonably priced, there was no up selling, it was just "done and done"...exactly as they wished. The service was through a cremation society that was pre-paid, so the final arrangements were easy and with no hassle.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

BTDT with both my parents deaths. And, in both cases, a funeral home took possession of the bodies w/o paperwork being signed beforehand.

I know that many of us here are FI and/or working towards it. It can be hard to believe, but many people are living hand-to-mouth and literally can't come up with even $1000. One of my classmates recently died at the age of 55 and a GoFundMe was posted to raise $1000 for the cremation, because the funeral home wouldn't do anything without the money upfront. That was the first I'd heard of that practice. Until now.

Your experience with your parents were the same as I experienced. I called and the answering service had the funeral home contact me for the details and both Mom and Dad were picked up (just for clarification...their deaths were a few years apart) before anything was signed. When my Dad passed (a few months ago), I didn't even set foot in the funeral home until I went to get the cremains and death certificates...all the paperwork was signed via email.

 

[gwraigty]

OR...maybe some folks look at the remains as JUST THAT...the remains. The "person" that used the body for their time on earth is no longer there and a lot of people don't see the value on spending THOUSANDS of dollars to deal with remains.

Our philosophy exactly.

 

[MichaelB]

I was wondering what the thoughts are on final expense insurance. is this insurance cost effective? is it just as beneficial to pay at the time when needed? I am sure there are posts out there about this subject, but I couldn't find them. so if there are please redirect.

It seems to me this type of insurance has value in two situations. One is if the decedent has substantial liabilities, is not certain there may not be enough money left to pay for a funeral, and the policy beneficiary is not the estate and is a furneral home. The other is if someone wants a specific type of funeral and has concerns that successors might choose another option that is less costly and less desirable. In this case as well, the beneficiary needs to be the third party responsible for making or handling the arrangements.

If one has sufficient resources and is confident arrangements will be carried as expressed , I really don’t see a need for this insurance.

 

[athena53]

In my state, the legal next-of-kin is the only one who has the legal right to deal with the final arrangements. The person who calls the funeral home might not be the person who actually has the right to sign contracts with the funeral home. BTDT with both my parents deaths. And, in both cases, a funeral home took possession of the bodies w/o paperwork being signed beforehand.

Good to point out this distinction. When my Ex was dying of multiple organ failure in FL, his sister in NYC contacted a funeral home in FL, arranged for cremation, and undoubtedly provided credit card information. It was up to DS in Iowa, however, as next-of-kin, to sign the papers authorizing his father's cremation and to allow the ashes to be sent to his Aunt. (The family later gathered to scatter them.) Fortunately everyone was on the same page as far as disposal of my Ex's earthly remains, and I will be forever grateful to my ex-SIL for making it as easy as possible for DS, who was only 25 at the time.

 

[frank]

I finally called around to a couple of insurance brokers and the numbers for the insurance were out of the ball park. 4 years of premiums would pay for the funeral. I guess the direction for me to head now is to stop at a couple of funeral homes in the area and get a price for cremation, urn, short visitation after cremation. we have resources in the estate for any kind of funeral, but don't see the sense in spending a ton of money on it. when we were younger we went to the cemeteries every year and put flowers on different sites, but our kids have never been to their grandparents sites and I don't see them starting after we are gone.

 

[Monterey298sc]

I finally called around to a couple of insurance brokers and the numbers for the insurance were out of the ball park. 4 years of premiums would pay for the funeral. I guess the direction for me to head now is to stop at a couple of funeral homes in the area and get a price for cremation, urn, short visitation after cremation. we have resources in the estate for any kind of funeral, but don't see the sense in spending a ton of money on it. when we were younger we went to the cemeteries every year and put flowers on different sites, but our kids have never been to their grandparents sites and I don't see them starting after we are gone.

You have just stated the trend, the younger generation have NO interest is our family heritage , in fact the millinnals are DE - CHURCHING also, at the highest rate ever at 38% don’t go to church. That is the research, if the parents don’t care the kids will follow.

 

[VanWinkle]

I finally called around to a couple of insurance brokers and the numbers for the insurance were out of the ball park. 4 years of premiums would pay for the funeral. I guess the direction for me to head now is to stop at a couple of funeral homes in the area and get a price for cremation, urn, short visitation after cremation. we have resources in the estate for any kind of funeral, but don't see the sense in spending a ton of money on it. when we were younger we went to the cemeteries every year and put flowers on different sites, but our kids have never been to their grandparents sites and I don't see them starting after we are gone.

Well said frank, exactly the way I feel about it.

VW

 

[gwraigty]

You have just stated the trend, the younger generation have NO interest is our family heritage , in fact the millinnals are DE - CHURCHING also, at the highest rate ever at 38% don’t go to church. That is the research, if the parents don’t care the kids will follow.

Not wanting to have an elaborate/expensive funeral has nothing to do with kids not being interested in their family heritage. Not going to church has nothing to do with how much a funeral costs either.

You have a direct financial interest in people spending more money to dispose of remains, so your comments aren't exactly neutral on this matter.

 

[PatrickA5]

Both of my parents and MIL had viewings and full funerals. The next generation (me and DW), both thought that was kind of weird and didn't want viewings (or embalming) when we did our preplanned funeral/burials, but we still went with a minimal service and a casket/gravesite. Talking to my kids, I imagine they will want even less. My guess is that cremation will be gaining in popularity over the years and elaborate funerals and burials will become less common.


In the future, I think funeral homes and casket makers will be a dying industry (pun intended).

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

My guess is that cremation will be gaining in popularity over the years and elaborate funerals and burials will become less common.


In the future, I think funeral homes and casket makers will be a dying industry (pun intended).

I think you are correct. Green burials are becoming more and more popular, and often times much less expensive. My DW, her sister,my BIL and I all have "green burial" as our last wishes. The "caring" of family members by funeral homes died when [-]Dignity Memorial[/-] Service Corporation International went around and bought up all the family owned funeral homes.

 

[Monterey298sc]

I think you are correct. Green burials are becoming more and more popular, and often times much less expensive. My DW, her sister,my BIL and I all have "green burial" as our last wishes. The "caring" of family members by funeral homes died when [-]Dignity Memorial[/-] Service Corporation International went around and bought up all the family owned funeral homes.

Sorry , not true. 75% of funeral home are still family owned and managed. Also, please go get a price for a green burial, you will be shocked at the cost.

 

[Monterey298sc]

Both of my parents and MIL had viewings and full funerals. The next generation (me and DW), both thought that was kind of weird and didn't want viewings (or embalming) when we did our preplanned funeral/burials, but we still went with a minimal service and a casket/gravesite. Talking to my kids, I imagine they will want even less. My guess is that cremation will be gaining in popularity over the years and elaborate funerals and burials will become less common.


In the future, I think funeral homes and casket makers will be a dying industry (pun intended).

Maybe casket makers, however the death rate is expected to increase substantially with all the baby boomers., so we will be very busy next 20 years. As far as cost , cremation rates will increase quickly with the increase in cremation rates nationwide. Supply and demand.