If you wish, you may choose not to do anything at all about pre-financing your funeral expenses. Let the money come out of your estate’s assets when you die. If it’s obvious that there will be money in your estate — in the form of savings, insurance, cashable stocks or bonds, or other liquid assets — that’s probably all the protection your survivors need. Until it is needed, the money you would otherwise need for pre-financed funeral payments could be invested or put into savings instead.
The disadvantage of this course is that your estate may not be large enough to cover the funeral costs adequately. Another possibility is that even if you do have the financial resources now, your situation may change to such a degree that there won’t be enough money in the estate when the time comes. In these situations, your survivors could be placed under financial strain while trying to meet the cost of your final arrangements. It may require going into insurance money or other resources more urgently needed to live on. James Meunier is the Director of Elmwood Meunier Funeral Home & Cremation Service. For more information visit ElmwoodMeunier.net.
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