When a loved one passes, it’s an incredibly difficult event to go through. The last thing anyone wants to think about is money. But while all of us will eventually need funeral services, few of us know how much a burial will cost.
Average Cost of Funerals
Funeral and burial costs have been increasing since the 80s. And it’s safe to say that funerals right now are the most expensive they’ve ever been. Along with that price increase, we’ve seen steady increases in the individual costs of funeral services like flowers, caskets, transportation, etc.
There are also many fees involved in the funeral and burial process. These fees are:
- Basic service fee: This fee is standard with funeral services and covers the cost of planning fees, including permit and administrative fees.
- Service and merchandise fees: This includes transportation, preparation, and body embalming. It also includes funeral home fees for viewings and memorials and any equipment and services needed for gravestone services.
- Cash advances: There are some services that your funeral home may handle for you, like flowers, organists, and clergy. These services may require an additional fee to account for the funeral home’s efforts. These additional fees must be disclosed to you in writing.
Along with these service fees, you will still need to pay for the rest of the funeral services, which can include the following:
- Casket – $2,500
- Cremation Casket – $1,310
- Cremation Fee – $368
- Embalming – $775
- Hearse – $325
- Other Preparations of the Body – $275
- Printed Materials – $183
- Required Basic Services Fee – $2,300
- Service Car/Van – $150
- Urn – $295
- Use of Facilities/Staff for Funeral Ceremony – $515
Once your funeral service fees are paid and the rest of the funeral costs, your average funeral cost can run up pretty high.
Paying for a Funeral
Regardless of where you live, funerals can run up costs incredibly quickly. While it’s hard enough dealing with the passing of a loved one, having to deal with rising funeral costs, fees and services can be a frustrating and incredibly insensitive experience.
So the real question is, how does one pay for a funeral? There are many different ways people decide to pay for funeral costs. Some of these ways include:
- Pre-need funeral insurance
- Payable on death (POD) account
- Funeral trusts
- Trusts
- Savings account
Suppose you or your family cannot afford a funeral or cremation. In that case, you may be able to get government assistance from a federal program such as:
- Veteran benefits
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- State government assistance
- Crime victim compensation programs
- Personal loans
- Crowdfunding
While all the above methods of paying for a funeral work to one degree or another, a solid life insurance policy is usually the safest and most secure method for paying for one’s funeral. A life insurance policy can be paid for while alive, and it protects your family from having to deal with or sort out funeral costs after you’ve passed away.
With life insurance, you pay a monthly premium, and your beneficiaries receive a death benefit after you’ve passed away. A death benefit from a life insurance policy can also help pay for any debts you might’ve had before passing away.
Most policies allow beneficiaries to access the benefit within a week after your claim is reviewed and everything is accurate.
A funeral can cost your family nearly $8,000, but with the right life insurance policy, you can help ease the financial burden on your loved ones after you’ve passed. Once all the funeral expenses are taken care of, your friends, family, and loved ones can focus on cherishing their memories of you.