Funeral Insurance Comparison Tips – How to Get the Best Deal
Performing a funeral insurance comparison is a a necessary evil if you want to obtain the best burial insurance policy for your situation at the lowest cost. This might not be the kind of shopping you particularly look forward to, but it’s an important step in planning for the future of your loved ones when it is time for you to leave them behind. In essence, you get burial insurance not for yourself, but to ease or remove the financial strain that your death can place on family and loved ones.
Aside from not knowing what really lies ahead, the thought of death is further compounded by the excessive cost of the funeral itself. Current estimates place burial expenses at a low of $8,000, not including the beverages served at the vigil and the other extraneous expenses that a funeral brings. Unless you have enough savings in the bank to cover the cost of your casket, the flowers, the hearse, and the cemetery plot, you would do well to obtain some type of burial insurance for seniors. However, not all policies of this type are the same, hence the need for you to do funeral insurance comparison shopping.
Why Doing a Funeral Insurance Comparison is Necessary
We all have different capacities, needs, and wants in life. In much the same way as you buy clothes that fit, the task of planning your funeral should also take into consideration all factors about yourself and your lifestyle . When comparing funeral insurance companies and quotes, you also need to look at your age, your present financial status, the beneficiaries you have, the kind of insurance policies you are already holding, and the kind of funeral you wish to have.
Obviously, there is no “one-size-fits-all” type of policy when you take all these things into account. That is why it pays to do funeral insurance comparison shopping. You should get burial insurance quotes from at least five companies and then determine which one suits your needs. Before you get these quotes, however, you should take the time to analyze how much burial insurance you actually need.
Getting the Best Funeral Insurance Rates
As mentioned earlier, there are many things you need to consider before choosing a funeral insurance policy.
First of all, you should take a look at the benefits offered by your existing life insurance policy or other insurance coverage. If these policies already include a burial benefit that would cover the expenses of your funeral, then there is really no reason for you to purchase additional burial or final expense insurance.
If you are a veteran or a member of the military, the Department of Veterans Affairs provide an additional $800 benefit. Social Security, meanwhile, gives a $255 death benefit. Factor in any savings you may currently have or have earmarked for the occasion to get an idea as to how much you actually need for your burial expenses. But don’t stop there…
Also, look at your current state of health. If you are sickly and you know you’ll be leaving some hefty medical bills before you pass on, you might consider getting a funeral insurance policy with a face value large enough to cover these expenses (as well as any other bills you may leave behind). You can even consider obtaining multiple policies if you can afford it just to ensure that your loved ones won’t be left with the burden of grief and financial difficulty due to your death.
To guarantee that you get the best burial insurance rates, make sure that you plan your funeral. By knowing the type of casket you want, where you want to be buried, how you want to be buried, and other important details of your interment, you can make a more informed decision regarding how much you actually plan on spending for your funeral.
Put all these things together and you will have a more concrete idea as to whether you need to obtain coverage with a face value of $2,500 or a policy worth $25,000. When you do your funeral insurance comparison of the offers you are choosing from, you’ll be in the driver’s seat and be better prepared to make a wise decision. While all this funeral planning may be a bit depressing for you, take solace in the fact that you are doing this not for yourself but for the people you love.
How to Do a Funeral Insurance Comparison
To get a clearer picture of each of the plans you have before you, write down each of the funeral insurance policies you have obtained a quote for. To save time, try to limit the funeral insurance comparison to only the most reputable and established companies around. You can learn more about the particular companies in question from the Better Business Bureau, and the BBB will be able to confirm whether or not there are complaints against a particular insurance carrier.
Also, you can create a sort of a tabular presentation to make it easy for you compare the burial insurance rates and premiums. List down the names of the insurance company on the left, how much the face value is on the second column, the premium amounts on the third, and the length of time you will be paying it for and the payment conditions and waiting periods that your loved ones can expect after you die in the succeeding columns. Look at the fine print as there are burial insurance policies that don’t pay the benefit right away, in these cases your beneficiaries would have to wait for a certain time span.
Comparing funeral insurance for seniors this way will allow you to look carefully at each policy offered to you, enabling you to choose the one that best suits your needs at a price you can afford. Also, it would help make things easier if you can create a will that details all your wishes and instructions, making it as easy as possible for your survivors to implement them. Make sure that you leave all these to someone — ideally a lawyer, family member, or close friend that you trust.
By doing a funeral insurance comparison and thoroughly preparing for your death beforehand, you help ease the pain and grief that your loved ones will feel at your passing.
