One of the toughest aspects of getting older can be planning for the future of your loved ones after you’re gone. It’s a very frightening thought to consider that you’ll no longer be here. In addition to that, your friends and family will hold a funeral after you have passed.
Most people plan their retirement by deciding how their remaining funds can last until the end of their lives. It is important to figure out the amount of money it’ll take to cover the expenses needed for the funeral.
So if you are trying to figure that out, it means you’re ahead of the game. Those that plan accordingly ahead can reduce the financial burden on their families by choosing an affordable burial insurance policy.
Deciding to buy funeral insurance, and which policy to go with is not an easy decision because, like most insurance policies, burial insurance has its own rules.
- What exactly is Burial Insurance?
- Burial Insurance and Final Expense Insurance
- Pre-need funeral insurance
- Is it a Must to Have Funeral Insurance?
- How much is Burial Insurance?
- Is it Possible to Get Affordable Funeral Insurance on Home Health Care?
- Home Health Care Underwriting
- What are the Home Health Care Questions?
- How to Buy Burial Insurance
What exactly is Burial Insurance?
Simply stated, burial insurance is a policy made to cover death-related costs for someone, and there are various forms and names such as final expense insurance, funeral insurance, and pre-need insurance.
Essentially, these policies are all the same thing, but there are some minor differences.
Burial Insurance and Final Expense Insurance
These policies are also called life policies or whole life policies. They are bought directly from an insurance company, and not from a funeral home.
Generally, they cost less than pre-need insurance and will have a beneficiary and not a burial service provider. Most people prefer this because it does not force you to use a particular funeral home, but you stand the risk of your named beneficiary not spending the funds as planned.
Pre-need funeral insurance
This is usually provided by a burial home or a burial service provider. Most times, it is a whole-life policy linked to an underlying insurance company.
An important quality of this policy is that it sometimes has the burial service provider as the beneficiary. Once you pay, the provider takes care of the funeral when you die.
That may seem better, but it can cause issues if you relocate or die elsewhere and cannot use another funeral home.
These policies are also more expensive than others. However, one benefit of this policy is that they mostly issue out payment as soon as the person dies, while regular life insurance policies sometimes take several days.
Is it a Must to Have Funeral Insurance?
It depends on various factors and preferences. At times, people will say that their beneficiaries should make use of their standard life insurance for their funeral expenses.
But others want their loved ones to be able to get the entire amount of their regular life insurance, so they will buy a smaller kind of whole life insurance to serve as their funeral insurance.
When they do this, their family and loved ones will be able to use that policy to cover expenses such as:
- Memorial services: including refreshments and a venue where the service will hold
- Funeral services: including the car services to use to the burial site
- Coffins and burial costs: to pay for the cost of labor to dig the plot and maintenance, and the actual burial land
- Cremations: they will have to cover the cost of cremation and an urn or box to pour the ashes in
So, for most people, the final expense policy is a must. Leaving loved ones to cover the costs of the funeral and other expenses is just not an option, and they want to ensure there is enough money left to cover these needs.
How much is Burial Insurance?
Most funeral insurance plans are around $20,000 or less. But don’t let that scare you, that is not the end of the world. These are whole life policies and due to this, do not expire.
In most instances, you can get the right policy for $10,000 for men and women. But you should consider the funeral expenses you want to be covered by the burial insurance policy and see if you need extra for offsetting debts.
Is it Possible to Get Affordable Funeral Insurance on Home Health Care?
Now that you know what burial insurance policy is, you need to look for ways to get an affordable policy.
There are scenarios where insurance companies flag applications because the applicant is on home health care. Those companies are not the right ones for you. But how can you get this vital insurance coverage?
Home Health Care Underwriting
As you apply for a burial insurance plan, the insurance companies will ask you a lot of questions. Also, they will run a prescription history check to verify your health issues.
When it comes to your home health care, the only thing you need to consider is the health question. There is nothing on a prescription history that will show if you were on home health care.
What are the Home Health Care Questions?
All funeral insurance company asks applicants if they have home health care. With that, below you will find the three common ways insurance companies may ask about home health care.
- If you have received home health care in the last 12 months
- If you are presently receiving, or been advised to get home health care
- If you are now, or within the last year getting home health care as a result of a chronic sickness
You will notice that these questions ask about home health care uniquely. That’s important to remember when you consider your circumstances for home health care. You need to know what to expect when you go to get funeral insurance.
How to Buy Burial Insurance
- Determine your burial expenses
You need to begin by knowing the amount needed to pay for your funeral. The cost of your burial is important and needs to be considered first. It is usually the highest single cost.
Other burial expenses to consider include the remaining medical bills, living expenses, legal costs, and credit card bills.
- Estimate if you’ll leave behind sufficient money to cover the final costs
The important question to ask is if there will be enough money to cover your final expenses. You may need to speak to a financial advisor to determine this. The company should immediately give your survivors access to the money to pay your funeral bills.
Don’t let your money get tied up in probate. That could be a problem because burial providers expect payment at the time of the burial. There will probably be other expenses that come due upon your demise.
- Determine if you need burial insurance
If you do not expect to have sufficient money at the end of your life to cover your burial expenses, then a burial insurance policy might be best for you.
Even if you leave behind sufficient funds, you may not want your burial costs to deplete that amount. It is best to have a burial insurance policy to make sure that your entire assets will be available to your loved ones.
- Decide the insurance policy to go with
There are various policies available today to help people cover their final expenses. An insurance coverage typically costs $10,000 to $30,000. The lower coverage is because these insurance policies are made to pay only enough for your burial, and not to give additional income to your family.
