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.

How the Federal Trade Commission Helps You Plan Funerals Properly and Pay Less



The fact that the Federal Trade Commission has intervened with certain rules is proof that there is deception widespread in the funeral industry. Even so, funeral homes still try to get away with what they can to maximize their profits. This is good news for you if you haven't bought your funeral plan yet. It means the ones that still want as much of your money as possible haven't gotten to you yet. It also means that there are definitely funeral plans worth buying. This Web site will give you all the knowledge you need to buy the right plan, which includes FTC guides to help you.



How the Federal Trade Commission Helps You Make the Best Estate and Final Expense Planning Decisions

The Federal Trade Commission has created what is known as the “The Funeral Rule” to keep funeral homes and funeral services providers in line and prevent them from “ripping off” the public.



Here are three booklets that will help you be “armed” and well-prepared. You can probably skip reading the Funeral Rule booklet but refer to it as needed, but read the other two.

•   Complying With the Funeral Rule
•  Your Rights When Buying Funeral Goods and Services
•  Shopping for Funeral Services



I have built this Web site to help make the process of planning and paying for final expenses painless, thorough, and as affordable as possible with no sacrifices in quality. But you can do this yourself through self-education, especially in this age of the Internet. You don’t have to take anybody’s word for anything. No one can fool you or manipulate you. But most people trust me after reading only a few of my Web pages. Once you trust me, you'll know I'm working for YOU and not any company that wants me to push their most profitable products, and I have thoroughly done your homework for you.



Here is the whole story in a nutshell if you want to get the show on the road the right way as soon as possible. I have identified three funeral service companies that I believe are the best value for your money in the Salt Lake/Provo/Bountiful area: 1) Premier Funeral Services, 2) Legacy Funerals and Cremations, and 3) Holbrook Mortuary. These three pass every test of mine. There are other good values, but I try to limit my recommendations to the three best. Holbrook Mortuary services a wide geographical area at no extra transportation charge. Holbrook is slightly more than Premier and Legacy. But they are a good choice for families who have no real church or religious affiliation but who still would prefer a chapel funeral service. I did not mention Serenity Funeral Home (formerly Serenicare) because they don't measure up in certain vital areas.

My first choice is Premier Funeral Services for various reasons. First, I have experience working with the owner Jared Fairbanks and know what principles he operates by. He also was the head manager for two chain operations: Memorial Estates (now Memorial Utah) and Wasatch Lawn (owned by Service Corporation International). He knows first-hand what the chain funeral homes get away with and how you can prevent over-paying for questionable service and merchandise. I have written hundreds of funeral and cremation plans for Premier Funeral Services with zero complaints. I can freeze your costs of funeral services, casket, and burial vault with Premier. I use a guarantee contract funded through the best funeral funding company National Guardian Life. This is the best funeral plan offered in Utah. You can't get this anywhere else. Meet with me once and you will be happy.














Guaranteed Issue Regular Whole Life Insurance - Ages 40-80 – UP TO $50,000


If you need regular life insurance, whole life or term, I can get it for you—regardless of whether you’ve been turned down by other carriers and regardless of your health history and status. Between ages 40-80, I have life insurance policies up to $50,000 if your needs go beyond funeral and other final arrangements.

Let’s Collaborate

Don’t let the over-priced funeral plan market clobber you due to your age and health history or health status. Don’t buy expensive funeral plans, especially those that don’t give a discount for using your church or don’t give you early payoff or single payment discounts.

We can collaborate so that NO MISTAKES are made and no money is overpaid. That‘s the bottom line. I focus exclusively on your true needs and wishes instead of focusing on how much money I’m going to make for the funeral home or myself. I am only interested in showing YOU how to profit.



I’ve studied the funeral industry while working in it, as well as the health and life insurance industries as an agent/broker, for over 22 years. The reality is that funeral homes are engaged in “price fixing,” and they continually raise prices year after year and lead consumers to believe that they have no choice. (See Wall Street Journal article).

You do have a choice. And one important fact to remember if you’ve bought cemetery arrangements from a company that also has funeral homes (“chain” operations, publicly-traded companies): you are not obligated to use them for anything besides burial labor costs. The rest of what you need can be done elsewhere. They cannot penalize you for using another funeral provider more to your liking. Don’t let your family be deceived. Tell your family in a one-page summary exactly where and how things are to be done and at what cost.

I've done an analysis that shows typically how much senior citizens OVERPAY for guaranteed pre-paid funeral plans. An example is a funeral that costs $7,500 for a full funeral service and casket (already over-priced)—and that’s if you pay CASH. If you pay for the same funeral plan over ten years, you’ll pay on average around $15,000! DON’T DO IT! Learn the details.






In 2015 we are seeing market-wide, across-the-board price increases at funeral homes, including in the Salt Lake area. This is the typical cycle in the price-fixing game. But not everyone is playing the game. Nevertheless, I strive to keep the cost-conscious consumer armed with everything they need to get the most for their money.

I have updated the calculator functions so you can run scenarios using the NGL Funeral Expense Trust for funding. Also, I am going to get more cost calculators for Utah’s sucker deal funeral plans and their promoters and produce a side-by-side comparison to what we have. One such company is popular among Utah funeral homes, only because it is based in Utah, but they are EXPENSIVE (and so are most of the funeral homes that use them).

No Funeral Home Pays Me Any Money

I make less money showing you better alternatives. This money is paid to me by the funding company I use, National Guardian Life. Funeral homes pay me nothing. No bonuses or commissions are paid to me for promoting any particular funeral service provider.

I have my choice of which funeral homes I can represent. These days, I am very picky. I no longer can be lured by bonus money offered by the expensive funeral homes. Let them and their agents bilk seniors. I am only interested in giving your family the best deal for your money, period. I have a handful of funeral service providers (homes) that I would highly recommend. Premier Funeral Services, serving Salt Lake, Davis, and Utah counties, and even in neighboring states, is the best value for your money that I can see. I have written hundreds of plans for Premier in the past four years alone.

Are You Worried Where Your Money Is Going With Funeral Plans?

The law is very strict. You can’t pay any money to a funeral home until someone has passed away. This means, in the meantime, your money has to stay deposited somewhere else until the time comes. 90% of all prepaid funerals are funded by life insurance companies who are specifically in the final expense and funeral funding business. I use National Guardian Life, the largest of its kind. They have been in business since 1909. I explain in other pages on this site how their funding plans compare to those of most funeral homes in Utah use.

Not only are their rates on plans up to ten years the best, here are some other reasons your money should be with NGL:

    · They offer a discount for paying for your plan with a single check (“cash”)—which most funeral funding life insurance companies do not.
    · They have an EARLY PAYOFF discount that allows you to pay your plan off at any time at a discount of what it would have cost you had you stayed with the full term of the plan. Most companies want to lock you into a plan for the full term so they can get more money out of you.
    · You get insurance that will pay off your plan should something happen to you prematurely with NO DISQUALIFYING HEALTH QUESTIONS. Everyone qualifies.
    · You can exchange any paid up insurance or funeral plans for a National Guardian Life plan at no cost to you. Then your family can have money left over to use as you see fit. Or you can set up a better, less expensive plan than the one you have with no need to make any more payments.
    · In NGL’s Funeral Expense Trust, your money is protected from creditors, nursing homes, lawyers, and everyone—it is completely UNTOUCHABLE and safe.


I get tired of learning how senior citizens are being taken advantage of. Many of them are treading water or near-drowning with medical expenses on fixed incomes while trying to pay for expensive funeral plans. Fortunately, I’ve been able to rescue some, and even reverse the course they were on. I can often get you out of a bad deal, put you into another, and you probably won’t lose any of what you’ve already invested. How exactly I can do that depends on your situation. But if you are now into a "buffalo" funeral plan that is going to ultimately cost you $10,000 to $18,000 per plan after all payments are made, it's time to get OUT. Stop the bleeding.

Already paid too much for a pre-paid funeral? I may have sold you a plan in the past for just a casket. I was doing this against the wishes of management at the time, because I wanted to help people do "one step at a time" if that was more affordable than swallowing a horse pill funeral plan. Or I may have sold you a whole funeral plan on a no-interest contract. I may be able to get you some of your money back, and you’ll still get the same thing you paid for besides. Most often, I can save you about $2,000.00 per full funeral plan--money that can be used for other things. I have already done this for dozens of seniors. They got everything they originally wanted on new, better terms. If you have any plan that is fully paid up, such as through Security National Life, Great Western, or Forethought, for either a full funeral or just a casket, you may have paid way too much. But this is good news! Why? All you need to do is CHANGE THE BENEFICIARY OF THE PLAN to a more affordable funeral home (such as Premier Funeral Services or Holbrook Mortuary). That's how simple it is. Get the Change of Beneficiary form from the funding company. They must release their interest in the plan. Most likely you have a plan that will grow in cash value for the rest of your life. Giving this money to a new funeral home, especially one that doesn't raise prices as much as the high-profile funeral homes, practically guarantees MONEY BACK af the time of need. The new funeral home can only keep up to their interest in the money. Premier Funeral Services has not raised prices in over five years; they actually lowered prices in 2015. Those whose plans have guaranteed their prices also have the likely prospect of getting money back after the funeral is paid.

Let’s go over your situation and do things the RIGHT WAY.

Combine National Guardian Life funding with an affordable funeral home, and you have the best value for your money. $4,500.00-$5,500 for EVERYTHING (not including burial plots and headstone/marker), and a payment under $60.00 a month.

Don’t be duped into believing that “funerals are expensive.” They’re only expensive if you talk to the WRONG PEOPLE! Talk to the right people. Only talk to those people who have YOUR interests in mind, not the interests of the company or who are thinking about their big commissions and bonus money.
  with me and you're done! Just one meeting for 90 minutes, and we’ll take care of your next step the best way.







Some of Darryl Roberts' advice from his book Profits of Death:

"The key to controlling future funeral and cemetery costs is to arrange and pay for them in advance."

"...people will purchase more in an emotionally charged at-need moment than they will in a calmer and more stable pre-need moment."

"Pre-planning is absolutely the best thing you can do to ensure that you get the final arrangements you want and save money at the same time."

"In my opinion, insurance policies are the best way to go. The insurance industry is highly regulated. Also, insurance companies are typically more balanced and more stable than most death merchants. Even when insurance companies go bankrupt, state and federal agencies come to the rescue of policyholders. Certainly the same cannot be said of funeral homes and cemeteries!"

The only advisor with the qualifications needed to give good advice about funeral planning is one who has extensive experience in the industry. I have written many hundreds of funeral, burial and cremation plans over 23 years, and it has not been for just one company. I have represented large and small operations, totally honest and somewhat crooked operations. I have been in the trenches and seen every tactic used in the interest of making money, even at the expense of families. I have studied and adhered to the standards of the National Funeral Directors Association. I have applied my education in accounting to the numbers that pertain to funeral planning and the related life insurance funding. With me it's "always about the money," but it's about YOUR money. It's not about whether or not I'm making money for the funeral home or the funding company. It's about zeroing in on the best value for your money.

See my other Web page Which Plans Are REALLY Best for Most Seniors?

And look at these Web pages on the Internet also:

Should You Prepay Your Own Funeral Expenses?

Let Your Legacy Be Peace Of Mind, Not Debt

What is the Difference Between Life Insurance and Funeral Plans?



Other Web pages on this site

The Truth About Your Favorite Funeral Home
Why Financial Advisors Give Bad Advice About Funeral Planning
Why National Guardian Life and My Agency Will Best Care For Your Family
Fallacy: "We'll do better if we just keep our money invested. We don’t need a funeral plan."
Fallacy: "We have plenty of life insurance. We don’t need a funeral plan."
What Does it Mean that Funeral Costs Are "Frozen" or "Guaranteed"
Why Alex Trebek Says Today's Funeral Costs Over $7,000
Methods of Planning the Funeral Industry Doesn't Want You to Use
Why Life Insurance Companies Are the Safest of All Financial Institutions
One Funeral Policy Covers Yourself, Kids, and Grandkids
How Can Senior Citizens Live Well Without Social Security?
The Purpose of Death
Russell M. Nelson on Death
Memorial Estates 2015 Prices vs. Premier Funeral Services
How to Buy or Sell Your Cemetery Property
Traditional Church Funeral Followed by Cremation
How to Construct Your Own Funeral Plan Instead of Being "Sold" One
What to Do if You Own Burial Plots At a Chain Operation
Preparing A Will Yourself for Under $50
Burial Only Plans (No Services)
Which Plans Are REALLY Best for Most Seniors?
Why 85% of My Appointments Buy A Funeral, Burial or Cremation Plan
Why Top Professionals Buy My Plans
Why Premier Funeral Services Doesn't Raise Prices
Is Prepaying for a Funeral a Good Idea?
Meet With Me Once and You're Done
What Most Ten-Year Funeral Plans Cost
$5,000 Will Cover It All
With One Company, It's Always About the Money
The Biggest Problem with "Chain" Funeral Homes
Federal Trade Commission Helps You Get Best Value on Funerals
How to Save Huge on Caskets
Why Your Memorial Burial Is Going to Be Expensive




I have set up over 150 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.

Our average ten-year plan at most ages is around $33.00 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.