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Coping with the passing of a loved one is a reality of life none of us want to face. When deaths occur, many people are forced to reckon with difficult financial realities. To prepare for life’s eventualities, it’s important to attain affordable life and funeral insurance. Unfortunately, many people neglect this responsibility and leave their families in financial peril.
According to Ryan Shellenberger, Owner at Shell Mutual Insurance, many people are often blindsided by the surprisingly high costs of funeral services.
“While they can be moving and beautiful, funerals are also incredibly expensive,” said Ryan. “People can help protect their families from unwieldy expenses by securing life and funeral insurance. That said, they also need to know how much they will have to pay for funeral services, so they can develop an effective action plan right now.”
Today’s average funeral costs can range from $10,000 to $15,000. This will generally include basic service fees, viewing and burial, moving the remains to a funeral home, embalming, a casket, and other preparations. The average cost of a standard funeral with cremation will fall between $6,000 and $7,000; however, these rates do not cover costs of a cemetery, marker, monument or other extras.
Funeral costs have been steadily increasing since the 1980s. In 2020, it won’t be uncommon for people to pay an average of up to $9,000 or more for a funeral, depending on whether they choose burial or cremation. Urns and caskets can also cost thousands of extra dollars depending on the material and style used.
When determining the final cost of a funeral, it’s important to remember that many of the initial estimates will not include a headstone or plot. A basic burial plot will typically cost anywhere from $700 to $2,000 for ordinary public cemeteries and between $2,000 and $5,000 for higher-end private cemeteries.
Mausoleums, vaults, and upright headstones can also add thousands of dollars to your final costs. Headstone and grave marker prices can vary from $1,000 for a simple marker to $5,000 for a finished upright headstone. This all means that an unexpected funeral could easily cost from $9,000 to $15,000 with the cost of full funeral services, marker and grave plot.
Since prices vary widely based on the individual funeral homes and a person’s geographic area, it’s common for people to be surprised by their final bill. Sadly, this can create a lot of extra pain and stress at a time when people are ill-equipped to cope.
According to Ryan, Pre-planning for events you know will occur can help eliminate a lot of needless pain and distress during difficult times.
“It’s important to have a plan in place to cover your final expenses,” said Ryan. “When people neglect to do so, they unjustly place financial burdens on friends and family, while adding to their intense grief and emotional anguish. At Shell Mutual Insurance, we are dedicated to helping families prepare for life after a tragedy by helping them attain affordable life and funeral insurance. We also work hard to provide insight on how families can prepare for something they don’t generally like to think about.”
Life insurance and funeral insurance helps ensure that a person’s loved ones will be able to easily cover funeral expenses after an unexpected death. In exchange for monthly premiums, the insured enjoys the peace of mind that comes with knowing their final expenses will be covered. This allows them to focus on enjoying their lives instead of worrying about how their families will cover potentially unwieldy expenses.
Planning out funeral expenses does not have to feel scary, morbid or stressful. With some careful arranging and some professional assistance, you can create an action plan to make sure your family will have the money to cover necessary expenses even if you are no longer around. This will free your family to celebrate your life and leave the stress of funeral planning behind.
About Shell Mutual Insurance
An independent agency, Shell Mutual Insurance represents dozens of programs in the burial and final expense life insurance market. Shell Mutual prides itself on helping families during some of life’s most difficult times. We’ve helped thousands of families find the security and assistance they need for end-of-life expenses. Leveraging diverse partnerships, we always work to find each client the best-priced available program, while ensuring that they get everything they pay for.
