Burial vs. Cremation – The Costs

It’s important that you make plans for your passing. There are dozens of different decisions that you’ll need to make to ensure that family isn’t left with difficult decisions. One of the biggest decisions that you’ll have to make is deciding between a burial or cremation. While this isn’t a fun conversation to have with your family, but it’s important that you don’t leave this difficult decision after your passing.

When you’re planning your funeral, you’ll need to decide how you want to body handled, the two most popular options are a burial or a cremation. When making that decision, one of the biggest factors that you’ll need to consider is the cost of the different option.

Burial Costs

Burial is the most traditional route, but it can also be one of the most expensive. With all of the related expenses and fees of a burial, your family could be left with a $10,000 bill. In some cases, it could even be double that. This might seem expensive for a burial, but most people forget some of the biggest expenses in a funeral.

One of the most expensive parts of the funeral is the casket. When you’re buying a basket, there are thousands of different options that you can choose from, and they are going to vary in price depending on the material and the quality of the casket. The average casket is going to cost around $2,000, but for a higher quickly casket, they can run up to $10,000 of debt.

Another essential expense to account for is the headstone. Just like with a casket, a headstone can vary in price depending on the quality and the type. A basic headstone is going to cost $1,000, but there are much detailed and quality headstones that can cost $10,000.

Cremation Cost

Cremation is the other attractive option for final wish planning. Cremation is becoming more and more common as burial continue to be more expensive. The number of people that has chosen to be cremated has double in the last 15 years, and experts believe that if these trends continue, half of all funerals will be cremation by the year 2018.

When you’re looking at cremation costs, these prices are going to vary drastically depending on the state that you live in and the crematory that you choose. Each service that you can choose is going to be slightly different. For example, some funeral homes have their own crematorium, while others use a third party company takes care of the cremation. Funeral homes that have their own are going to be more affordable. While the costs can be anywhere across the board, the average cost is going to be between $1,000 to $2,000.

Another cost to account for when planning a cremation is the urn. In most cases, this is only going to be a minor cost depending on the quality of the urn that you choose. Most urns are going to be a small cost of around $100, but they can be as expensive as $250, but even the most expensive urn is going to be significantly cheaper than purchasing a casket.

Offsetting Those Costs

The cost of funeral should not be the only factor that you consider when deciding your family wishes. You should think about what you want for your final resting place and what will make the process easiest for your family to help them grieve.

With all of the related costs and fees that can accumulate after you pass, your family could find themselves with thousands and thousands of dollars of debt, which can make the situation a thousand times worse. There are several ways that you can help your family pay for those expenses to ensure that they are strapped with a mountain of debt that can break their bank.

One of the best ways to protect your family is to purchase a burial insurance policy. These policies are small life insurance plans that will give your family the money that they need to pay for any related funeral costs or fees. There are a couple of different advantages to these policies that you should be aware of when you’re planning your funeral.

You may have reached a stage of life where you no longer need a full life insurance plan for a million dollars of coverage, but you still need to ensure that your family won’t be stuck in a $20,000 hole of debt if something tragic were to happen to you. A burial insurance plan will allow you to purchase $25,000 worth of coverage that your family can use any way that they see fit.

One of the advantages of these policies is that there is no medical exam required to buy one. With a traditional life insurance policy, you’ll be required to undergo a medical exam, and if you’re in a bad health or have several pre-existing conditions, you could be declined for coverage. It’s important that everyone has the insurance protection that their family will need, and your health shouldn’t prevent you from getting that.

Another key benefit of burial insurance plans is that you can be approved for coverage much faster than you can with a traditional life insurance plan. With a term life insurance policy, you could wait several weeks to be approved for coverage, because of the medical exam. With a burial insurance policy, on the other hand, you can be approved in a matter of days. With some insurance companies, you can get coverage in a matter of hours.

Is A Burial Insurance Plan Right For You?

It’s important that your family has the insurance protection that they will need if something tragic were to happen to you. For the majority of families, a burial insurance policy isn’t going to be enough coverage, but there are thousands and thousands of people that can take advantage of these smaller plans. There are several key factors that you should consider when looking for the perfect plan.

The first thing that you should look at is the debts and other expenses that your loved ones would be responsible for when you pass away. The primary goal of any life insurance policy, traditional or burial plan, is to give your family the money that they need to pay off those bills without draining their savings.  If you still have a mortgage loan or hundreds of thousands of dollars in other loans, then you’ll need to apply for a traditional plan.

Another factor to consider is your salary and if your family members rely on that paycheck every month. The secondary goal of a plan is to help your family replace your stream of income if something tragic were to happen to you. If you have several people that rely on your income, then you’ll need to apply for a traditional insurance policy that will give them the money that they need.

Burial Insurance: Burial or Cremation

Regardless of which type of funeral that you choose, either burial or cremation, a burial insurance plan is an excellent way to give your family the money that they need. If you have any questions about getting the insurance coverage that your family will need, please contact one of our agents today.

Unlike traditional insurance agents, we are independent brokers, which means that we don’t only work with one single company. Instead, we represent dozens of quality insurance companies across the nation. We can bring all of the best insurance premiums directly to you without the hassle of calling all of those companies yourself.

Because you never know what’s going to happen to you tomorrow, you shouldn’t wait any longer to get the insurance coverage that your family will need. It’s our mission to ensure that you have a quality insurance plan at an affordable rate.