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.

I’ve heard this from people for two decades. Most often, what they say to this effect simply isn’t true. I can illustrate why.

How much is “plenty of life insurance?” For most people, that might be around $250,000 to $1,000,000. For those with such large policies, paying $20,000 for a funeral in the future won’t be a problem. Even so, I’ve written funeral plans for wealthy people with large amounts of insurance and substantial assets. What did they see that others do not? Some people with small amounts of life insurance, such as $50,000 to $100,000, believe that they have their funerals covered. But do they?

I have studied the cost of funerals from the big name "chains," as well as popular private funeral homes, since 1992. The cost of a full funeral service with these typical funeral homes on average almost DOUBLES every ten years. The prices I've tracked increase about 6.32% per year. Life insurance by itself does nothing about this, especially insurance with a fixed death benefit.



At this rate of 6.32% per year, by 2024 the cost of an average funeral service (no casket) will be $10,029. By then, the low-end average casket should be around $3,000, for a total funeral cost (no vault or burial items) of over $13,000. Add in burial items and miscellaneous costs and you easily are over $20,000. If these things are not pre-paid already, and you have a $100,000 level benefit life insurance policy, 1/5 of it will go toward funeral and burial expenses. That leaves your survivors with $80,000 in 2024 dollars. Did you win or lose? You lost, because you could have knocked down the total funeral and burial expenses to $5,000, which would give your survivors $95,000 in 2024 dollars.

By saying we have enough life insurance (with $50,000 to $100,000), you only have control over your current debts (such as mortgage and medical bills). Future debts are a big question mark. Is there any need to replace income if you pass away? If your policy is what I refer to as "small" (less than $100,000), every dollar your beneficiaries receive is precious. And funeral price inflation has continued to be above what general price inflation has been over the past two decades. The only way to exercise control is to guarantee and account for funeral costs NOW and not let your family wait to see what things cost in the future. I have written hundreds of casket and funeral service plans for families with substantial money, assets, and life insurance--because it gives them a large measure of control. And when I do this for a family, I help them free of charge in many ways to put their final wishes and preferences in a clear written format to prevent any costly mistakes from being made. I explain in detail what they have covered, so there are no loose ends.



One way to win big: Write a check for $3,000, and your funeral service and casket are done.

You can virtually FREEZE your cost of what most funeral homes are getting around $7,000 for if you pay for it today. I can set up a plan to give nearly complete control of future costs, including picking a casket now that suits your budget and taste. This is the best prepaid package I've ever written, and I've written more of this plan than any other. 26% of my customers get it paid in less than a year or with one payment of around $3,000. Pay for it with one check to begin with, and you get a Child/Grandchild Rider with equal protection for them between the ages of 6 months and 18 years if they are unmarried.

The rest of my customers choose longer-term payment plans, which still only cost a maximum of around $3,500-$4,000 total of payments. Many of these people have life insurance, but they know a good value when they see one, and they understand how much control they're taking working with me. The money stays in the NGL Funeral Expense Trust until death. At the time of your passing, the money, face amount plus accumulated cash value growth, is sent to Premier Funeral Services. If Premier is charging less for the casket and services package at the time of need than the amount paid by NGL, the family is refunded the difference or the money can be applied to things not covered yet--such as obituary, flowers, cemetery labor, etc. If they are charging MORE than the insurance money received, the costs are guaranteed and your family doesn't need to come up with any more money for those things. (See my page What Does it Mean That Funeral Costs Are "Frozen" or "Guaranteed"?

What if This Funeral Home Goes Out of Business?

Funeral homes can, in fact, go out of business. But nearly in every case their operations and obligations are taken over by other funeral service establishments. And this usually means that the guarantees given by the now defunct funeral home will be honored by whoever takes over. This is a matter of maintaining goodwill in the community. If a funeral home took over another funeral home and didn’t honor previous agreements or contracts, that funeral home would develop a bad reputation quickly and would start losing a significant amount of business.

In any case, however, as I explain in other pages on this Web site, your money can’t go down the drain along with a funeral home. It is safely protected in a specially designated fund that the funeral establishment has no access to until you pass away. If a funeral home you’ve chosen becomes a less desirable choice as time goes on, you can change whom you use. This can happen also if you decide to move away in the future, and the original funeral home you’ve chosen would be an inconvenient or inappropriate choice. If you have a contract with a funeral home that guarantees costs, you may lose those price guarantees if you switch funeral homes (but many will honor them so they can get your business). You won’t, however, lose your money. Your money should be in an insurance policy specially designed for use in guaranteeing funeral costs, along with continuing cash value growth as long as you’re alive. This money can be transferred elsewhere, by naming a different funeral home as the beneficiary of the funds. Or you can just make someone in your family the beneficiary of the funds, to do with as they wish at the time of need.

Never make your funeral plan “irrevocable” to any funeral home. If you do, when you pass away they get your money no matter what. This is not to be confused with an “irrevocable funeral trust,” such as that sold by National Guardian Life Insurance Co. The irrevocable funeral (expense) trust is an insurance plan that preserves your money and assets. The trust ensures that your funeral expenses are paid first and are protected from any creditors, or being counted as an asset for Medicaid spend down. If you or your parents need to qualify for Medicaid assistance, this trust can ensure that your final expense trust is left intact and is available to pay for funeral expenses. Without a funeral expense trust, some families have to pay for their parents’ funerals out of their own pockets. The irrevocable funeral trust can easily prevent this. This “insurance trust” is not be confused with any other trusts. Choose a funeral home in advance and plan to direct funds to them, even if there’s a chance they could go out of business and/or be taken over by someone else. This is because it is difficult and expensive to change to another provider once they have your body. It is as simple as stating “At time of need contact [funeral home] [Phone number].” I use the NGL Funeral Expense Trust in combination with a cost guarantee form with select funeral homes to freeze your costs and to protect your money.

Unless you are sure you are going to use a particular funeral home, don’t buy a plan that puts your funds into that funeral home’s “trust” fund, even though it is a viable, legal option. They impose penalties often as high as 25% when you try to take your money out to be used elsewhere. And these trusts don’t offer the benefits of an insurance-funded funeral plan. For example, if you die before you make all the payments on the trust plan, your family is left with a balance to pay. Also, there is no growing cash value as there is with an insurance-funded plan. If a funeral home goes out of business or is taken over by another, you have nothing to worry about if your money is placed in an appropriate insurance fund, explained throughout this Web site. The NGL Funeral Expense Trust is an insurance-funded plan with all the benefits that go with whole life insurance: 1) balance is paid if you die before making all the payments; 2) you have a tax-free growing cash value as long as you're alive; 3) you don't have to make payments for the rest of your life (ten years is the maximum); 4) you can pay the plan off early, which you can't do with regular whole life (it is a "limited pay whole life" plan; and 5) it is a protected asset.



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

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


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