How to plan an affordable funeral

Posted by on August 12, 2009

This article teaches you how to plan an affordable funeral.  With the typical funeral now costing more than the price of a good used car, many families need help making more affordable funeral (and cremation) arrangements.

Affordable Funeral Costs vs. Typical Funeral Costs

Most American funerals now cost between $8,000 and $10,000.  Unfortunately, as baby boomers age, demand for funeral services will grow and drive funeral prices up even further.  Some experts predict that within three years the average traditional funeral will cost nearly $12,000.

Fortunately, with a little planning you can realistically cut out-of-pocket funeral expenses in half.  This means you can save between $4,000 and $5,000 when planning a traditional funeral service or between $1,500 and $3,000 when planning a standard cremation service.

Why It’s Hard to Plan an Affordable Funeral

Even though many people complain about funeral prices, the cost of cremating or burying a loved one continues to increase every year.  Before we identify the things you can do to plan a more affordable funeral or cremation service, it may be helpful to discuss why funerals are so expensive.

First, a few facts about funeral homes: 

• funeral homes (and many cemeteries) are in business to make a profit
• many funeral homes are now owned by large global corporations
• the more things they can sell you, the more profit they make 
• the income for many funeral directors now comes entirely from sales commissions

Unfortunately, most people have no idea what funeral goods and services are required when a loved one dies, nor do they know what those goods and services should cost, so they end up buying whatever the funeral director recommends.  Funeral directors know this, so they simply don’t tell families about less expensive options. 

While there isn’t anything wrong with running a profitable business, many funeral homes achieve their above-average profits by misleading weary and grieving consumers.  Unfortunately, when it comes to funerals, it is easy to mislead consumers. 

Until recently most funeral planning information came directly from funeral directors.  This meant the only information available to families was what they were told by the very people trying to sell them something.   

Unfortunately, many funeral homes only provide information about their most expensive options, so families have little objective information to consider when making final arrangements.  Simply put: the majority of families don’t know how to find more reasonably priced options. 

But here is some good news: the Internet is making it possible for resources such as the [Funeral Saver’s Kit] to provide families with objective, accurate information that can help them make affordable funeral and cremation arrangements.  In fact, much of the information contained in this article comes from the Funeral Saver’s Kit.  

How to Plan a More Affordable Funeral

Fortunately funeral planning is one area in which a little education makes a big difference.  There are several things you can do that will help you plan a more affordable funeral or cremation service.  Here are three basic strategies: 

• Choose a low-priced funeral home
• Choose reasonably priced goods and services
• Don’t be afraid to negotiate

 Choosing a low-priced funeral home

While most funeral homes offer similar services, they often price their services differently.  For example, Funeral Home A might charge a large fee for the funeral director’s time and add a small markup on the price of a casket; while Funeral Home B might charge a smaller fee for the funeral director’s time, but then make up for it by charging a much higher price for the casket.

Because you are now legally allowed to purchase your own casket from the Internet, funeral home B will usually be willing to discount the price of their casket in exchange for your business.  The combination of Funeral Home B’s lower fee for the funeral director’s time and the reduced price of their casket can save you thousands in unnecessary expenses.

Unfortunately, most families do not know which funeral homes in their area offer the lowest prices for the funeral director’s time.  That’s where resources like the Funeral Saver’s Kit come into play.  You can use the Funeral Saver’s Kit to find the funeral homes in your area that offer the lowest prices for the funeral director’s time.  The kit also shows you how to obtain a large discount on any model of casket. 

Choose reasonably priced goods and services

Most families have no idea what funeral goods and services cost, nor do they have any idea how large the funeral director’s markup is on the goods and services they buy.  It is common for funeral homes to markup the cost of their goods by 300% to 500%.  These markups can add thousands of dollars to the funeral home’s bill.

Consumers can be richly rewarded with substantial savings by understanding which funeral goods and services are required and knowing how much those goods and services cost the funeral home. 

Once you know which goods and services are required – and how much they should cost – you are in position to make appropriate choices based on your family’s preferences and budget.  You can consult the Funeral Saver’s Kit for a detailed listing of legal requirements and prices pertaining to all funeral and cemetery goods and services.

A key to affordable funeral planning is understanding how the service you select impacts the overall price of the funeral.  For example, choosing body burial as a means of final disposition means you will have to purchase a casket, outer burial container, cemetery space, and a headstone.

This means that simply agreeing with the funeral director when he suggest a “traditional” funeral can result in thousands of dollars in additional expenses.  Alternatively, choosing cremation – or a different type of funeral service – can eliminate many of these “add on” expenses.

However, you can no longer assume cremation will be less expensive than body burial.  Over the last few years a new trend has been emerging in the funeral industry: more families are choosing cremation in lieu of a full-blown funeral.  In response to this trend, many funeral homes have raised prices for their cremation services in an attempt to protect their profit margins. 

While cremation can still eliminate many cemetery-related expenses, a large portion of the savings previously enjoyed when choosing cremation are now eaten up by additional funeral home expenses – so it pays to understand what you are getting for your money.  Again, a resource such as the Funeral Saver’s Kit makes it easy to understand all of this so there are no surprises.

Don’t be afraid to negotiate

The death of a loved one is one of the most stressful situations any of us will ever encounter.  Not only do we have to deal with the emotional baggage and grieving that’s a normal part of losing a loved one, but we are forced to square off against a well polished funeral home employee working toward a large sales commission. 

And because most families do not want to look cheap when making funeral arrangements for a loved one, they end up paying the funeral home’s “sticker price” for the goods and services they are sold.

However, because funeral home goods and services include substantial markups, there is plenty of room for educated consumers to obtain legitimate discounts.  Many times the funeral home can easily cut their prices in half and still make a substantial profit off of the family’s funeral.

Unfortunately, most families are reluctant – and lack the necessary information needed – to negotiate an appropriate discount on a funeral service.  The key is in understanding how the funeral home’s prices compare to their costs.  Any funeral good or service that is marked up by hundreds (or thousands) of dollars is ripe for a discount.

Don’t be afraid to tell the funeral director you will purchase certain funeral goods from another supplier instead of buying them from the funeral home.  Because the funeral director realizes you can buy many of his goods much cheaper somewhere else, he will be ready and willing to offer a knowledgeable family a substantial discount off of his list prices in order to keep their business. 

You can find a list of reputable Internet suppliers in the appendix to the Funeral Saver’s Kit.  The kit includes a report card that rates the relative quality, prices, and selection of leading online funeral suppliers.  It also includes a detailed listing of the markups applied to common funeral items.)

The need for more affordable funeral options….

As the baby boomer generation reaches retirement age, demand for funeral goods and services will outstrip the ability of funeral homes to provide those goods and services.  Unfortunately, this means that funeral prices will increase by a substantial amount over the next two decades. 

Fortunately, technology and the Internet have made it easier for families to beat the funeral homes at their own game.  Consumer-friendly funeral planning tools, such as the Funeral Saver’s Kit, are saving families thousands of dollars in unnecessary expenses and helping them make more affordable funeral arrangements.

Lower funeral costs by taking advantage of any military benefits due the decedent

Posted by on July 15, 2009

Before spending thousands of dollars at the funeral home and cemetery, check to see if the decedent qualified for free funeral items from the government.  Why pay for something the government is willing to provide for free?  After all, the decedent has already earned it! 

Many military veterans are eligible for free grave spaces and headstones.  You can search online for information about military benefits or check out section five of the Funeral $aver’s Kit.  It’ll show you which services and goods are provided at no cost by the U.S. government and how to claim your benefits.   

Note: be aware of so-called “free grave” scams that are sometimes offered to veterans.  This is where the veteran is offered a free grave site, but upon death, the family has to pay an unusually high price to have the grave site dug. 

Because many surviving spouses want to be buried next to their deceased spouse, the cemetery may also double the price of all surrounding graves.  This allows the cemetery to make up any profits lost on the veteran’s “free” grave. 

Not surprisingly, these scams end up costing surviving spouses and children thousands of unexpected dollars every year.

Get copy of the Funeral Saver’s Kit and learn how to claim free funeral benefits from the Federal government.

If you need help paying funeral costs, request or negotiate a discount from the funeral home and cemetery

Posted by on June 13, 2009

Contrary to popular belief, most funeral directors are willing to give discounts to families that ask in an appropriate manner.   

Many goods and services provided by a funeral home can easily be discounted by several hundred (or even several thousand) dollars before the funeral home starts to lose money.   

Since most funeral homes buy their merchandise from the same few suppliers, they should be able to sell their goods and services for a similar price. 

However, if you come across a particular funeral home that is selling its merchandise for considerably more than other funeral homes in the area, they may be a good candidate for negotiating a lower price on funeral costs. 

If you don’t want to do the legwork yourself you can use a resource like the Funeral $aver’s Kit to quickly gauge which items are negotiable and how much of a discount is realistic.  The kit also shows you the proper way to discuss and negotiate a discount with the funeral director.  This simple, non-confrontational method has been proven to increase your chances of getting a fair deal.    

Click here to learn more about negotiating a funeral discount.

Save money on funeral costs by making arrangements at a low-priced funeral home and cemetery

Posted by on May 9, 2009

Many people don’t realize that prices can vary greatly between funeral homes.   

Over just the last three years many family-run funeral homes (and local cemeteries) have been taken-over by big global corporations. 

These big corporate funeral homes often keep the original owner’s family name on the door so they don’t scare away their old customers.  Unfortunately, these corporations often raise prices by 30% to 50%. 

This is why you should NOT automatically use the same funeral home you have used in the past UNTIL you check to see if they have SINCE become part of one of the big funeral corporations – as so many have!

Choosing a reasonably-priced local funeral home instead of one of the many corporate funeral homes can substantially reduce your out-of-pocket funeral expenses. …often reducing your overall funeral bill by $2,000 – to $4,000 for the same exact items.

This same principle applies to cemeteries.  These funeral corporations have also been buying up many of the older, better established cemeteries across the country.  They realize that if you already have a family history with a particular cemetery you are more likely to pay their larger fees just to be buried next to a deceased relative. 

So what can you do about all this?  Well, the first thing you should do is call a few funeral homes in your area and ask them if they are now owned by one of the big corporations.  If they’re still a family-run business they’ll be proud to tell you so.   

If you don’t feel comfortable calling and asking funeral homes about this, check out section 3 of the Funeral $aver’s Kit to learn a neat little trick that lets you to use your computer to find out each and every corporate funeral home in your area.  You can do it right from the comfort of you home in less than 5 minutes and it’s completely free. 

After eliminating the really expensive funeral homes, you’ll want to find out which funeral homes offer the most reasonable prices.  Again, you can do this simply by calling funeral homes in your area and requesting their price information. 

Although funeral homes are NOT required to send you price information when you ask for it over the phone, some are still willing to do this.

Unfortunately, a lot of families have trouble getting accurate price information from funeral homes….so the Funeral $aver’s Kit now includes detailed price estimates for all funeral, burial, and cremation goods and services….this makes it easier to know what to expect in terms of costs.

Once you get price information from several funeral homes, simply compare prices for each of the goods and services that interest you.  Families using the Funeral $aver’s Kit have access to both a computer spreadsheet and a simple paper form that can be completed with just a pencil and calculator.  These forms make it easy to see which funeral home in your area offers the lowest overall price for the type of service you want. 

You can repeat this same process for cemeteries in your area.  Once you have identified the funeral home and cemetery that offer the most reasonable prices, contact the funeral home and schedule an “arrangement” conference.

If you need to save money on funeral costs, check out the Funeral Saver’s Kit.

What you need to know about funeral prices

Posted by on December 17, 2008

I’ll admit that gathering information about funeral prices is harder than it should be.  In addition, funeral homes and cemeteries are subject to different requirements when it comes to providing you with information about their prices and options. 

Funeral prices are not set in stone

If you only take away one thing from this article it should be this: funeral prices can vary greatly from one funeral home to the next.  This means a funeral service at one funeral home can cost thousands of dollars more than a similar service held at another funeral home right down the street….so it pays to shop around!

Why we don’t compare funeral prices

Unfortunately, most people do not compare prices between funeral homes.  This is understandable for a couple of reasons:

• We don’t like to talk about or plan for death
• Funeral plans often need to be made quickly – this can be especially burdensome when the death was unexpected
• Most people simply do not know enough about funeral planning to even know what questions to ask or what items to compare
• No one wants to be perceived as being cheap when it comes to making funeral arrangements for a loved one

However, you should approach the process of buying funeral goods and services just like you would any other major purchase – take the time to educate yourself as to the options and prices available in the marketplace.

Unfortunately, many funeral homes and cemeteries are reluctant to share their prices with you unless you use specific language when making your request.  They know they stand a much better chance of selling you an expensive funeral if they can first get you into their office before providing any information about funeral costs. 

The good news is that there are specific things you can say that will force the funeral home to give you their price information for FREE….and no funeral home would ever dare give you a sales pitch when you use this specific language.

An easier way to gather information about funeral prices

If you’re using the Funeral $aver’s Kit you’ll find a simple chart that clearly explains an easy (and low stress) way to collect pricing information from any funeral home in your area.  The kit tells you exactly what to say to ensure you get honest information at no cost to you.  You can use this to collect information from every funeral home in your area or just those that interest you.

The best advice I can give you when it comes to collecting funeral price information is this: DON’T be afraid to pick up the phone and call it least three funeral homes in your area and ask them for a copy of their “general price list”.

Each funeral home’s general price list will describe services and merchandise in similar terms.  This makes it easy to compare relative prices between competing funeral homes.  Also, if a funeral home gives you a hard time about giving you information about their prices, forget them.  That’s a good clue they know their prices will not compare favorably to their competitors. 

Remember to compare your local price information to the actual price ranges included in the Funeral $aver’s Kit…so you can be certain you’re getting a fair deal.

Click for more detailed information about funeral prices.