Pre-paid funeral

[rondvu]

I am 49 and have been pondering the thought of purchasing a pre-paid funeral. Does anyone have pros,cons about locking in prices etc? Any input would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

[OKCisOK4me]

I don't know what your religious beliefs are....but just get cremated.

[oneforone]

You better off purchasing life insurance that way your funeral expenses and any medical bills can be covered.

[namellac]

Dave Ramsey doesn't like them. You get a better return of investment if you have simple term life insurance, or if you got the money, put it in a secure liquid savings account.

Think of it this way, you are paying premiums on a $6-$15K policy if you do pre-paid funeral, and all the money goes to the Funeral Parlor. Whereas, for the same money, you could get a term-life insurance policy, and have money "left over" for loved ones or to cover any other debts you leave behind.

Pre-paid funerals – worth the price? - Apr. 6, 2006

[PennyQuilts]

Are you planning on dying soon? Do you have a family plot? What are the chances that you will remain in the area until death? Are you positive that you want a funeral or could you change your mind to a cremation?

Do your family a favor and plan out what you want or don't want so they don't get taken to the cleaners for fear that they'd slight you if they didn't all the bells and whistles. And if you want bells and whistles, you probably ought to let them know. But keep that information away from them until after you die so that they're nice to you between now and then instead of seething that you are blowing their inheritance.

Just kidding, here. Sorta.

[kevinpate]

I vote cremation, ashes being spread in some places meaningful to the departed.
Or, as my spouse once put it, to help her cope with the idea "C'mon kids, we're going on vacation, but this time Poppa's not coming back." I love her.

[Karried]

Or, as my spouse once put it, to help her cope with the idea "C'mon kids, we're going on vacation, but this time Poppa's not coming back." I love her.

lol, that made me laugh!

I too vote cremation.. there is no way I want my family to pay for a casket and a burial.... no thanks.

I think it's so traumatic to watch while they lower a casket.. just my opinion.

[08hybridok]

Just burying father in law 2 yrs ago & then his mother last year, Both were pre-planned/paid. So it made it easier on the kids as they could just grieve and not try to make plans. Even tho both were expected (sin cancer & alzimers) I couldn't imaginge trying to make decisions on an unexpected death! Both all ready had family plots in a cemetery too. My wife also says creamate her and plant her in her flower garden. I'm undecided, but think buying a piece of dirt to sleep in forever is wasteful, so I'll probably go creamation too.

Now this is in addition to life insurance. We both have enough to pay off the house/bills & funeral expenses.

As far as savings, from what my wife said a creamation costs about the same as burying, I guess the only savings would be the plot & headstone.

[PennyQuilts]

The funeral directors generally do a good job of making it as easy as possible to make decisions in the middle of grief. That doesn't mean that it is easy and of course that makes the likelihood of overspending more likely since you aren't thinking straight and don't want to be disrespectful to the departed.

My father left a list of how he wanted his remains handled. He listed something like Low Cost cremation service and I thought he meant to look for a cheap one. I found some inexpensive ones but paid more because I didn't want to be disrespectful.

It was not until later that I realized that was the actual NAME of the service. He's already checked it out and that is what he wanted. I should have realized that, knowing my dad! Since he was a vet, he was given a nice veteran's memorial in his hometown.

[Thunder]

Donate to Health & Science!

[kevinpate]

> from what my wife said a creamation costs about the same as burying

I'm convinced her research was based on incorrect data. Sure, if you go through a typical funeral house, their fees are added on, then you have the price of the lovely meant to be on display urn, perhaps a place outside the home to set it amongst other visible urns, then a service, etc., etc., etc. yeah, you might even spend more going that route.

But back to basics. The expense of transport, cremation, no decorative urn and return of ashes for dispersal is below 1300.00, and depending on where one looks, possibly in 3 figures land. that's not what one finds for the typical funeral, even one that is few bells and whistles. I suspect even a plain jane cloth over pine box, no frills vault, cheapest corner of the grounds, no marker, and no public service might rival that, if there's a funeral house who even offers that bottom end of a no frills option.

Cremation is not for everyone, but then, neither are the high end caskets, assured to never leak vaults (man, oh mna, why???!?), multi-car processionals, big service, flowers enough to stock a spring parade, etc. etc. offerings that are out there.

[PennyQuilts]

A burial is much, much more expensive than cremation.

[jsibelius]

lol, that made me laugh!

I too vote cremation.. there is no way I want my family to pay for a casket and a burial.... no thanks.

I think it's so traumatic to watch while they lower a casket.. just my opinion.

Not to burst your bubble, but even if you're cremated, you still have to buy a casket. It just doesn't necessarily have to be anything fancy - you could buy a pine box if you could find someone to sell you one. In fact, if you're planning on cremation, you may want to get the least expensive one you can find, since it's going into the incinerator.

[PennyQuilts]

My parents were both cremated. I didn't have to buy a casket when my dad died in 2002 (in Oklahoma). They just put his remains in a box in a bag. Or my mom in 2007 (in Virginia). Same thing.

[jsibelius]

My parents were both cremated. I didn't have to buy a casket when my dad died in 2002 (in Oklahoma). They just put his remains in a box in a bag. Or my mom in 2007 (in Virginia). Same thing.

I stand corrected. Maybe the law is different depending on the state. When you're dealing with funerals, the law varies widely among states. (or maybe my source is a crooked funeral director - there's certainly no shortage of those)

[PennyQuilts]

I used to be told you had to buy a casket, anyway. I don't know if the law changed or they call the cardboard box a casket, or what...

[Karried]

Cremation Society of Oklahoma

Cremation costs about $1200 bucks.

"The Cremation Society™ uses sophisticated identification procedures, the same type used in hospitals. The body is placed in an empty cremation chamber and then cremated."

You can prepay for this and lock in the price now too.

[Prunepicker]

Prunette and I have made our arrangements. However, we are thinking about
cremation but are not certain. Prunerella wishes we'd make a definite
decision.

Prunerella is our daughter, even though she's become a Yankee.

[USG '60]

When Resthaven was first established my parents bought 4 plots there next to the lake. They now occupy 2 of those spaces. All three of us "kids" plan on being cremated, so if any of you know someone who would like to be buried in Resthaven, have them contact me. I will sell them both for the current retail price of one.......or even less, maybe.

[icecold]

cremations at resthaven cost anywhere from $3300 on up. Then you have to buy the urn and the urn vault. Not every place requires an urn vault but I know resthaven does. Just because you are creamated does not mean that you can not be buried in a plot. And by the way those spots around the lake at resthaven are currently $5000. most funerals cost at least $8000 and the price continually goes up so locking in a price is not that bad of an idea.

[kevinpate]

And avoiding the bulk of the expense is even better, to some anyway, than locking in the price of unnecessary bells and whistles. I'm comfortable knowing my ashes will be dispersed respectfully. However, if I'm tucked away on a top right corner shelf in a closet, I'm nor likely to haunt anyone over it.

[Karried]

I'm sticking with the Cremation Society....

I want my kids to take a cruise and scatter my ashes over the beautiful tropic blue water in Grand Cayman and then have a Corona w Lime in my memory.