Utah Insurance License Number: 88816         Pre-Need Sales Agent Number: 325672-5802

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This agency only works with local, privately-owned funeral homes. This means you will be dealing with a trusted member of your community, not some distant corporation only worried about a bottom line.

Why Paying For A Funeral "At-Need" Is a Big Financial Mistake






This page addresses one of the primary purposes of buying a pre-paid funeral plan: to make sure costs are controlled. Unless you take certain steps, the door is wide open to over-charge your family. I will explain exactly what to do to get exactly what you want at the right costs.







From the book featured on "60 Minutes":

"Death and the consequences of dealing with death and paying for death are most often ignored until one has no alternative. But by then, the death merchants have us right where they want us--vulnerable, emotional, susceptible, and with checkbooks in hand."

Darryl J. Roberts, Profits of Death, An Insider Exposes the Death Care Industry











There are common mistakes families and individuals make and fallacies they believe in that can easily be eliminiated to ensure that no one over pays at the time of need. The most common are: 1) We're better off keeping our money invested than buying a funeral plan; 2) We have enough insurance; and 3) We're using our church, so we don't need to pay anything.

There are many mistakes a family can make. I address all of them throughout this Web site. On this page I will help you eliminate the possibility of paying more than you should for a funeral and/or cremation "at need" (at the time a death occurs). If you have arrangements paid for before any death occurs, the over-paying factor is minimized greatly. I will show you how to prepay the correct way, not the way most funeral homes would have you do it.

Most funeral home prices are set to ensure that the funeral home earns the highest profit at the time of a person's death. Funeral homes don't enjoy the idea of allowing you to pay in advance, unless they can profit greatly from it. They want to make money both at need and pre-need. Some companies, such as the "chain" operations, actually prefer that you pay over ten years on a pre-paid plan and don't want you to pay it off quickly. They make more money on the drawn out plan. In fact, they don't even allow the "early payoff" option after two or three years on some plans, the so-called "Preferred Plan" they promote the most and force down the throats of unprepared seniors. With too many funeral homes, "it's always about the money."

This does not mean that a ten year plan is not a good way to pre-pay. I write ten-year plans regularly. They are all good plans. I also write short-term and single payment plans. These are even better plans. I can steer you away from any type of "raw deal" plan or "buffalo" plan just by pointing out a few important things to remember.

First, be aware of how caskets are promoted at funeral homes, either for pre-need or at need. Funeral homes love to over-price caskets on purpose, because they think families won't know any better. You can know better. Costco got into the casket business for one main reason: funeral homes were over-charging for caskets. If I did not have casket plans available that beat Costco, I would recommend you buy from Costco. (See my casket pages to find out why the plans I have are better).

CLICK HERE TO GO TO CASKETS PAGE





Find out who has everything you want at the price you want. Not every funeral home engages in the "game" to keep prices at a high level. I highly recommend Premier Funeral Services. This is not because that company is paying me anything, because they don't. They just have the best funeral value for your money that I can see in the state of Utah. There are a handful of others that will give you similar values. Premier has caskets in a large variety with prices comparable to Costco, and your costs on these can be frozen--regardless of future price increases.

To find out exactly who has the MOST EXPENSIVE FUNERAL PLANS ON THE MARKET in the Salt Lake area, I did another survey and some calculations. I called Memorial Estates (Memorial Mortuaries) and McDougal Funeral Home, as well as some others, to find out what their cost of a traditional funeral service, held at a church, with their least expensive casket would cost. The figures were close to the same: $5,995 and $5,790 respectively. Add another $500-$1,000 if you want a higher quality casket. I called these two companies, because I have been a representative of both in the past, and I know how they operate internally. I have no complaints about McDougal, except for the cost of the services and their pre-paid plans. McDougal is a fine privately-owned funeral service provider. Nevertheless, these two funeral operations aren't even the most expensive. Some places cost even more, especially those owned by Service Corporation International.

A casket and a services package are only two components of the total funeral/burial cost. This doesn't include flowers, obituary, sales tax, burial plot, burial vault, vault setting fee, or opening and closing of grave. Add these, if none have been take care of yet, and try to work out a combination of payment plans to get it all done, a senior citizen is looking at a total payout of around $20,000-$30,000! How many seniors can afford that? And unfortunately too many seniors are without large life insurance policies and can't qualify for it affordably or even at all.

Most funeral homes offer pre-paid plans whereby your costs (which represent your "investment" in the plan) are guaranteed or frozen, regardless of future prices increases. It is one of the best services a funeral home can provide. But, as I explain in other parts of this Web site, they can very easily become over-priced plans. I show you how to get the guarantees you need, while getting the best locked-in prices. Getting "buffaloed" means: 1) paying prices for a funeral that are too high; and 2) funding the funeral in a way that costs you somewhere around twice what the same funeral costs today. You can freeze your funeral costs without either of these two things happening--as they too commonly do with high-profile and chain funeral homes. Follow me, and don't get buffaloed.









In the sample guarantee form below, which contains information about exactly the types of plans I write on a regular basis, all the costs are frozen to the extent of John Smith's investment. If Premier Funeral Services is charging $2,995 for services, $1,200 for the same Apollo White casket, and $1,000 for a burial vault by the time he passes away, no one is required to come up with a balance. His costs were "frozen" on March 31, 2015, the day the contract was written--at a total price of $3,785. I use Premier Funeral Services in this illustration because I believe they are the best value for your money. (Premier is currently offering the same services package for $1,795. Casket and vault are extra). I do not work for or get paid any money by Premier Funeral Services. I independently fund for other funeral homes as well.







If John Smith is 56 years old, and he decides to pay it off with one payment or within one year, his total investment in the plan would be $3,557.90, because he is offered a discount for making a single payment. This is an automatic, next day return on investment of 6%. He pays no more for the specified items--ever. And his plan continues to grow in cash value for the rest of his life. His "death benefit" continues to increase as long as he is alive, regardless of his future funeral prices. The funeral home may stop increasing prices, but his plan won't stop growing. This is an important point, because his survivors could end up with money refunded if this turns out to be the case. Otherwise, no balance is due on the items spelled out on the guarantee form if his funeral home has raised prices sky-high. He has his costs locked in.

If John chose payments over a number of years instead, his total "frozen" investment in the plan would be the total of his payments and no more. Should he pass away while making payments, the insurance picks up the balance and there are no more payments. Payment plans continue to grow in cash value, with an increasing death benefit, the same way single payment plans do.

If John decides to make payments for ten years, because that is all he can afford, his monthly payment on this plan would be $42.28, with full insurance coverage over the ten year period. He can pay the balance off at any time. If he pays it off early in five years, it will cost him somewhere probably midway between $3,785.00 and $5,073.41. If he makes ten years' worth of payments, he pays $5,073.41, and this is his total investment in the plan. After ten years, most funerals that include a casket and a vault will be selling for $12,000-$15,000, but John doesn't have to worry about that. His investment was frozen.

"WE HAVE PLENTY OF LIFE INSURANCE"

I write plans for people who have hundreds of thousands of dollars of life insurance. They are happy to set up a plan with me, because it puts them in control of what their final costs will be in a way that cannot be done by leaving it for "when the time comes." Life insurance money can be used for other important things. They also get for free from me the benefit of working with someone who knows how to put together a summary of their final wishes, so no mistakes are made at the time of death. They get to work with someone who has steered them toward all the best options for their money. They know they have made a good investment. On the other hand, leaving it in their kids' hands without proper instructions, and having the survivors go to a funeral director they may not even know is a much more dubious plan.

Paying over a long time, such as ten years, with pre-paid funeral plans funded by insurance doesn't require you to pay "interest." You are getting the insurance component for a monthly (or quarterly, semi-annual, or annual) "premium." When you pay interest on something, you get nothing in return. When you pay the premium, you get the insurance that pays your plan off should you pass away before making all the payments. Roughly 1 out of 4 of my customers pay their plans off within one year--which is considered by National Guardian Life to be a "single" premium and it not only costs you no additional money, it is actually a discounted amount.

John has the BEST PLAN FOR HIS MONEY, because he knows he can't buy a full funeral with a casket and a vault for $5,073.41 at most funeral homes at today's prices. He knows that $5,073.41 is the MOST he will ever pay for a funeral service, casket, and vault. He will pay much less if he pays it off early, and at a discount ($3,557.90) if he can pay it off in one year. If he stretches the plan out the full ten years and he lives ten years, $5,073.41 is his plan's total cost. And that amount is only 38% more than a funeral costs today with Premier Funeral Services, not 100% more (such as $15,000) that the "buffalo" funeral plans cost. His costs are frozen at $5,073.41 or less. If he waits and does nothing to freeze costs, even if he uses the funeral home with the best prices, his cost for the funeral at the time of death could be a lot more. By setting up the pre-paid plan shown above, John has taken control.



The following can normally be guaranteed or "frozen" by a funeral home:

    •  Funeral services
    •  Cremation services
    •  Caskets
    •  Burial vaults (but maybe excluding installation labor)
    •  Urns


The other costs are the following, which are estimated and accounted for and are normally not guaranteed:

    •  Cemetery labor (opening and closing, vault setting)
    •  Flowers
    •  Obituary
    •  Printed programs (sometimes can be guaranteed)
    •  Death certificate
    •  Taxes

It is relatively easy to estimate and then project the future costs, factoring in the growth of the funding plan to be sure those items are covered adequately.

Below is from the backside of the guarantee form. It explains how the guarantee works exactly:



Note the words "regardless of the market price at the time of need."

The buyer agrees to purchase a life policy with the funeral provider as beneficiary with a "face amount" equal to the total amount of the funeral:



Funeral plan guarantees are not very complicated. We just need to be sure you aren't paying too much overall for the funeral. I can make sure it's between $3,000 and $6,000, not $6,000 to $15,000 as with the over-priced funeral homes and their funding companies.



Utah's Best Funeral Value:









I have set up over 250 plans in the past three years alone that pay for a full traditional service with casket included for around $3,000.00-half of what most funeral homes charge. You use your church, a reception center, a lodge, the graveside, or some other location you arrange. No sacrifices! Just a better plan for your money. And your casket and services costs are FROZEN. This applies to other plans that include cremation. All the factors discussed on this page make my funeral plans no-brainers.

All plans are guaranteed portable, including cash value growth as long as you're alive. Even though you may have designed your plan around the prices of one particular funeral home, the funds can be used at another that charges similarly or less so you get the same result if your plans change. In any case, your money is never stuck with a funeral home where you have to pay a penalty for withdrawing that money. You don't have to worry about getting any money back from a funeral home, because your money is safely deposited with a large insurance company. And no current or past health condition can disqualify you from the insurance plan.


Your money stays safely deposited with a large life insurance company until you pass away, a company in business since 1909. www.nglic.com. You can change whom you want to use for a funeral at any time. We have 1-3-5-7-10 year plans, with full insurance coverage should something happen before you make all the payments, and always a discount for making a single payment or paying off your plan early. And always with growing cash value tax-free.

NGL is No. 92 of all insurers in the U.S. Read Report.


Our average ten-year plan at most ages is around $33.00-$35.00 a month. Compare that to what other funeral homes you may have had in mind can offer you. The average funeral plan in the Salt Lake area on a ten-year plan is around $80.00 per month per person.

Let me show you in detail in your home how to outline your final wishes and preferences in the best way possible. Let me show you the best plan for your money.

I don't need your Social Security number. There is a major funeral funding company based in the Salt Lake area that owns many mortuaries and cemeteries that insists on getting your Social Security number when you set up a plan with them. Don't fall for this. That number is only needed for a death certificate, not for a funeral or burial plan. National Guardian Life does NOT require your Social Security number. Turn down any plan that does.

Get professional, personalized service at the right price, on the best terms.

    UtahsFuneralPlanningSite.com serves the funeral and funeral planning market in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. Our goal is to help you plan a funeral in as much detail as possible well in advance. This website provides the tools you need to pay for funerals the right way, so affordable funerals don’t end up being a sacrifice but instead a more comfortable reality. We offer or point you to Utah's best funeral prices and lowest cost for funeral plans, which can include caskets and burial vaults, and final expense whole life insurance, especially for seniors with bad health and with low incomes. You will be able to not only outline your final wishes with accuracy, but you will know exactly how to calculate and control the cost of a funeral (church, mortuary chapel, or graveside), the cost of a burial, and, if applicable, cremation options. You will not become the victim of funeral rip-offs, over-priced caskets, or plans that don’t suit your family’s true needs and budget. There will be no confusion in your family at the time of need concerning arrangements. Once you have done things correctly, they will know where the line has been drawn on spending for your final expenses, and no mistakes will be made.