| By :
Marilyn Katz
This can be a tough thing to talk about. Nobody likes to think about the time when a loved one will pass away. But since a death can dump a lot of costs upon a family, it does pay to be prepared. You should consider the cost of the burial arrangements. Beyond those, there may be many other things to pay for like transportation, lost time at work, and outstanding bills. Funeral homes usually want to know how you are going to pay for those costs, and the subject tends to come up at the worst possible time. This time would be right after a loved one passes away. It can be very stressful to come up with the money or arrange financing at a sad time when so many details need to be attended to. So it may be a good idea to consider some ways to pay for these things in advance. Consider how others have planned. Cosider some things people do to plan for the cost of funerals. You can always save some money. A dedicated savings account for emergency bills is always a great idea. If the elderly person, or a grown child, could set aside a cash fund of several thousand dollars, it could be there so somebody could just write checks for the bills. Make pre-need arrangements with a funeral home. Some funeral homes have burial plans that can be paid for in advance. These may be a good idea for some people, but have some disadvantages. The funeral money will get to hold on to the pre-paid money, sometimes for years. Your could have been collecting interest on that money if it was in a savings account. Make sure you know exactly what you need, and also what the pre-paid plan will provide. Some pre-paid funeral plan holders get unpleasant surprises about things that still need to be paid for when the time comes to arrange a funeral. These plans will not cover everything. Keep in mind that these will not provide money for travel, debts, or other expenses that are not related to service from the funeral home. Make sure that somebody in the family has enough credit to pay for the expenses. People have paid for funerals with credit cards or bank loans. The problem here is that somebody will have to pay that loan back. So the event could leave the rest of the family in debt. Another option would have been to purchase a burial insurance policy. These are fairly simple. They are whole life policies. The policies have been developed so seniors can apply. Sometimes they are also called final expense plans or senior life insurance. Face amounts usually range from a few thousand dollars to about $25,000. These smaller death benefit amounts keep the price affordable for many older people. The advantage of an actual insurance policy is that the money can be used in any way the beneficiary needs to use it. A portion could be paid to the funeral home. Any money that is still left after the funeral costs are paid for can be used for anything the beneficiary needs it for. Many times, people buy these for themselves. Other times, adult children or other relatives will pay for the policy as a way to plan for burial costs.
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