Why You Should Plan Your Own Funeral
Transcript
Here’s your “Slap in the Face” Award for this week. And it’s a final arrangements slap. You’re going to love this one.
Imagine if you will… You just passed – crossed over, died, whichever you prefer – a few hours ago.
Everyone – children, siblings, friends – has said their final goodbyes. Your wife or your husband, who’s probably spent 30, 40 or even 50 years with you, is facing the reality of life without you…
And now, if they follow the advice of most of what I’ve read online about funerals, they’re supposed to jump in the car and start driving from funeral home to funeral home comparing prices and trying to get a fair price for your final arrangements (or even a bargain).
And I’m not exaggerating one bit – that’s exactly what everything I’ve read about planning a funeral recommends you do: shop around.
Absolutely ridiculous! But that is the reality of how most folks handle their guaranteed exit.
That is, if you’re part of the 62% of this country that has done nothing to prepare for the ceremony, cremation or burial, and trimmings that go with the typical funeral.
Why You Should Plan Your Own Funeral
Twenty-one percent of people voice their wishes about their final details, but almost two-thirds do nothing about it. So that leaves the responsibility to whoever is left.
And as a piece in Fox Business stated recently, funeral directors are not clergy. They are in business to make money, just like everybody else (some more than others).
If you go online and search “average funeral costs,” you have your choice of numerous websites that will list everything you need to know in order to make your final arrangements and not get ripped off in the process.
Or you can do what 62% of people in this country do and let the bereaved handle the details.
And, if you’re looking for a really cheap way to beat the high cost of traditional funerals, there are actually places in the U.S. now (22, according to an article I read recently) where you can be buried in a sheet. That’s it!
The sheet costs around $40, and you don’t even have to have a vault.
Whether you want a marching jazz band, the hearse and a whole stream of cars, or the sheet, the very least you can do for the people in your lives is turn off the TV, get off your duff and take care of the details so they don’t have to.
If 62% of us can talk about it, we can do something about it. It’s just a nice thing to do.
Good investing,
Steve