How Not to Go Broke When a Loved One Dies
Whatever you think awaits us all at the end of our lives, there is one undeniable universal truth: after you die, someone will be left with a bigger score.The average cost of a burial is about $8,000, and the average cost of a cremation is about $7,000—in a country where most people would die from a $1,000 emergency expense . This is complicated by the fact that we are asked to plan funerals when we are emotionally vulnerable , and the most you can hope for from the government is a $255 death benefit .
However, depending on your beliefs and wishes for their final resting place, you and your loved one have a few options that can help keep you from going broke when someone you love passes away.
How to plan ahead for funeral expenses
The first thing to do is to accept that we are all going to die someday, which means that someone will have to pay for what happens next. If your beliefs or wishes for your loved one regarding their death include viewings and funerals, that means you will have to find that money. Instead of hoping for the best, plan ahead a bit:
- Burial insurance. You can buy funeral insurance like any other insurance policy, ranging from $1,000 to $50,000 if you’re planning a big send-off. While these are additional expenses to worry about while you are alive, this means that an unexpected death will not affect anyone financially.
- Paid to death account (POD). A POD is simply an agreement with your bank or financial institution that specifies the direct beneficiary in the event of your death . This setting allows someone to access your accounts immediately after you die (POD is more important than a will, so you don’t have to wait for a will to be read and executed). If you die with money in your bank accounts, it can be used immediately to pay for the funeral.
- Funeral with prepayment . Many funeral homes will allow you to pay up front for viewings and funerals or cremations. This has the advantage of fixing current fares, and the disadvantage is the assumption that you will die in the area – if you die while traveling and the cost of transporting your body is not included in your prepaid service, this can backfire.
- Saving. You can, of course, just save money for the funeral and put it off. But if it was easy to do, you wouldn’t be reading this article at all. However, if you have the opportunity to save money, consider creating a dedicated account for death expenses and making it available to the right people.
How to cut funeral or funeral expenses
In addition to planning to pay for everything related to the death of a loved one, you can also – depending on your spiritual and philosophical beliefs – reduce the overall cost of someone’s death. If you’re in the mood for burial or cremation, there are a number of ways you can save some money:
- Shop around. Although there is not much competition in the funeral business, do not forget that this is a business. It may seem painful or insensitive, but you can find a better price for viewings and funerals. If you have the energy and peace of mind to make it, a few calls can save you a lot of money.
- Caskets and urns. You don’t have to buy a coffin from a funeral home , which is usually the most expensive way to buy one. You can buy your own jewelry box, although you should check the shipping costs, which can be so high as to negate any savings. And you can rent a fancy coffin to view and then bury the person in a much cheaper coffin. Similarly, providing your own cremation urn can cut the overall cost by hundreds of dollars.
- natural burial. A funeral home or cemetery is a private business, so they may need things like embalming or concrete liners for inspection and burial. But there aren’t really laws that require any of these costly aspects of traditional modern burial, so you have the option to look into “natural” or “green” burial , which gets rid of those extra costs.
- Burial on private land. In 47 US states , it is perfectly legal to bury someone on your territory , as long as you comply with local ordinances. For some, being buried in a favorite place can be attractive. You should consider the implications of having a grave on your property – for example, it can affect the resale value, and if you sell or otherwise lose control of the property, you may have to take sudden and disruptive action. But if you have land, it can drastically reduce the cost of burial.
- Direct burial or cremation. Also known as “immediate” burial or cremation, this is almost always the cheapest option and involves a funeral director. In a direct burial or cremation, there is no embalming and usually no viewing, and the funeral home simply prepares the body, transports it to the cemetery, and buries (or cremates) it, often using an inexpensive, simple coffin or other container. This is usually much cheaper than a full burial, sometimes under $1,000 .
Donation
Finally, if your beliefs allow it and you are comfortable with it, you can arrange for your body to be donated for medical and scientific research after your death. Although you cannot legally be paid for this, it eliminates all the costs associated with burials and cremations – most programs that accept body donations cover the cost of transporting the remains. There are a few considerations if you think this might be a good way to save your family the hassle and expense of your funeral:
- Health. Most research programs that accept body donations have specific requirements for the condition of the remains.
- Memorials. You can’t hesitate if you’re going to donate your body to science, so you either need to organize some kind of memorial right away or hold one without a body.
- Organs. If you want to become an organ donor, this will most likely forfeit your right to donate your entire body. Most programs need all of you.
- Control. You cannot specify how your body is being used. Once donated, the program will have full control over this.
If you or a loved one think this is a great way to help humanity while saving your family the cost of a traditional funeral, it’s best to plan ahead to ensure everything is in place. You can contact private organizations such as BioGift to arrange this, or browse through this list of donation programs and contact the one that suits you.
Dying in this country is an expensive pleasure. If you want to save your loved ones from these expenses, you have several options, but you should start planning right away.