Often It’s Best To Opt for below Average Funeral Cost-YourFuneralGuy

Many Times it is best to sign a contract for a low cost funeral rather than resent the high funeral costs later.

Many times it is best to come in under the average cost of a funeral. Grief Counselors and Social Workers often find that people resent the high funeral costs after the event.  The thought process goes something like this:

(Just let me sign this contract, with these prices I haven’t discussed much with anyone,and get it over with.Maybe it’ll come out of the insurance or the estate—-I can’t deal with this too. If this is what it costs,I loved____.)From-REST IN PEACE INSIDERS TIPS TO THE LOW COST LESS STRESS FUNERAL-copyrighted material from your funeral guy.

As you can see this kind of thinking can make you feel victimized later.

From Social Worker Nancy Adler- Jones

“Common themes in my practice are the high cost of funerals and the victimization people feel when arranging for burial/funeral services. Click here to read a Newsweek article that sheds light on the topic.”

A good funeral director will be sensitive to what you can pay and want to pay in funeral cost. He or she will make sure you do not resent what you paid for the funeral, now or weeks later. Be sure to come in under the average funeral cost of $8,500 per year.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Costs  blog by Your Funeral Guy

Your Funeral Guy: Funeral Industry/Preneed Begs To Be Regulated.

The funeral and preneed industry is begging to be regulated. They are realing from the NPS Preneed Trust Scandal (national prearranged services) and the IFDA Preneed Trust Scandal Illinois Funeral Directors Association  from Last Year.

The problem is you cannot squeeze the toothpaste back in the tube. I believe the reputation of the funeral industry is now beyond recovery unless there is the bold move of making money on a lot of low cost funerals is made. Many funeral homes will have to adapt this strategy just to survive.

An interesting article was recently posted on this in Missouri the home of the National Prearranged Services disaster entitled:

Pre-need funeral legislation requires providers “be of good moral character”

Problem is you cannot legislate good moral character. when the reputation is gone the reputation is gone.

Here is a quote from the article:

“I don’t know of any other profession … (that) has come to the legislature to say, ‘Please regulate our industry more, please audit us more, please investigate us more because we want to make sure the public is confident in our industry and in our profession and in the whole pre-need process,’” said Donald Otto, executive director of the Missouri Funeral Directors Association.

Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Rember to find the IFDA and NPS  info at

http://www.lowercostfuneral/rbrianblog

Author

Your Funeral Guy: Five Unconventional ways to lower funeral cost.

In this blog I have mentioned many ways to lower funeral cost. Here are some not so common ways: 1 Sell your Burial Plot and pursue cremation 2. Go to your county for assistance. 3. Join a consumer alliance  4. Prevent theft of personal property. 5.Do a Home Funeral with the help of the of a Funeral Director who specializes in home funerals.

1 Sell your Burial Plot and pursue cremation. With the economic downturn some folks are taking to selling their burial plots and turning  to cremation.  For some this works. This can be especially useful if you have burial plots you plan not to use.

2. Go to your county for assistance. Many counties provide funeral and burial assistance. Some counties are not so upfront about this. Yes you may have to persistently ask questions. Others are quite forthright.

3. Join a consumer alliance - Join a chapter of the Funeral Consumers Alliance. The Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) offers excellent funeral cost savings information. Most importantly, less expensive does not mean less honor, less loved, or less service to your loved one. Check out FCA  info it helps.

4. Prevent theft of personal property. This happens more often than you might be aware. A current example is here. This is addressed in Rest in Peace: Insider’s Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral. Be sure to keep track of your loved ones personal effects, rings. watches, cash, credit cards.

5.Do a Home Funeral with the help of the of a Funeral Director who specializes in home funerals.Some traditional funeral directors oppose home funerals. They say that most families do not have the strength to do this themselves.  If you have a director who has experience in the home funeral it can be accomplished without much difficulty.

These are Five off main street steps to lower funeral costs and funeral expenses. These will help you come in under the average cost of a  traditional funeral which is a $8,000.00 USD in 2008.

Your Funeral Guy.

Your Funeral Guy:#3 of Five Things to Know When Shopping For a Funeral

The Funeral Rule is a Congressional Law that protects your rights as funeral customer and helps you lower funeral cost. Many People are forced into lower cost funeral planning when someone suddenly dies. We must understand- that no one likes to think about death and many folks do not want  plan for it.  Even one hour of planning can save you thousands on a Funeral if the time is spent wisely.

The Funeral Rule, gives you the right  to choose only those goods and services you want or need and to pay only for those you select. This applies to making  arrangements when a death occurs It also is true if you choose to make arrangements and pay in advance (not recommended). Be sure to make your arrangements in advance but do not pay for them.

It is also very important under the funeral rule that you be shown a casket and vault price list.  By looking at these lists beforehand you can lower the cost of a traditional funeral and and the lower cost funeral option can be yours.

Many times funeral home owners do not show you all their caskets in the casket display or the casket room. Be sure to see the list. Some of the lower price caskets can be stored in the backroom or the basement.

Essentially the funeral rule gives you the right to compare prices among funeral homes, and makes it possible for for your lower cost funeral. This is done through the General Price list or the GPL. We will address that later.

Under this law,

The funeral rule states that you have the right to refuse embalming (in most jurisdictions)and the funeral director must state it in writing.

This is very important because it opens up the door to low cost funeral options of direct burial and cremation.

Here is my summary of Embalming and the funeral rule.

The main point about embalming is that it is a funeral cost you are not required to pay for. Again,  this is outlined in the funeral rule ( Congressional Law ) designed to protect your Funeral Rights

Many funeral directors require embalming if you are planning a viewing or visitation. Embalming generally is not necessary or legally required if the deceased body is buried or cremated shortly after death. Eliminating this  embalming service can save you many hundreds of of dollars. Under the Funeral Rule, a funeral director:

may not provide embalming services without permission; this sometimes happens.

may not falsely state that embalming is required by law; you should be informed of this by your funeral director.

must disclose in writing that embalming is not required by law, except in certain special cases;

may NOT charge a fee for unauthorized embalming unless embalming is required by law;

must disclose in writing that you have the right to choose another disposition, such as direct cremation or immediate burial, that does not require embalming if you do not want this service;

must in writing disclose that some funeral arrangements, such as a funeral with viewing, may make embalming a practical and a safety necessity and, if so, a required purchase. Your Family can have a private viewing even without embalming.

This come from the experience of your funeral guy.

So whenever you go into a funeral to price shop or set up your funeral

“Make em follow the Rule” the funeral rule, it is the law in the USA.

Sadly some funeral home owners and funeral industry professionals do not follow the rule, the law.

Blog by Your Funeral Guy, Funeral Director, Author, State of Illinois

You  may find it best to check out the funeral rule.

Check out the facts for consumers.

Note you can effectively deal with lowering your Funeral costs and expenses. Take a few hours and deal with it.

Read the funeral book: Rest in Peace: Insider’s Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral

Your Funeral Guy:#2 of Five Things to Know When Shopping For a Funeral

Before you shop for your low cost funeral hang on to your wallet by reading this.

Don't Let Your Funeral Cost into the Grave

There are 2 contracts at every Funeral, the emotional contract and the financial contract. Recently this was addressed in an article titled:

“Don’t throw money down the grave”

Make sure your family mourns you, not the cost of your funeral

This was in the  National Post of Canada. Your Funeral Guy was quoted from an interview.

In any other transaction this large, most people would try bargaining on the price. But when it comes to burying a friend or relative, no one wants to seem cheap. “That kind of thinking, however noble it might seem, is a mistake“, says R. Brian Burkhardt, author of  Rest in Peace: Insider’s Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral.

“Quite frankly, the money should go for the living,” says Mr. Burkhardt. “Why should you put $15,000 in the ground for a funeral when the money can go to your grandkid’s education or to a relative?”

People shouldn’t be shy about opting for a low-cost funeral, especially in this economy, adds Mr. Burkhardt.

“If you take away all the emotion from the situation, it is a contract negotiation. Funeral directors will negotiate with you for a lower cost,” Mr. Burkhardt says.

For example, he says, you can opt not to have the body embalmed. “That is the best way to lower funeral costs,” he says. “It can save you at least $600 or $700.”

The emotional contract consists of trusting your emotions to the funeral director. Actually when hiring a funeral home– you trust you and your families emotions to all the staff at the funeral home.

The emotional contract  is just as important as the financial one you sign. It is very important that you consider your expectations with both these contracts before shopping fora funeral. As much as possible it is best to keep the emotional and financial expectations (contracts) separate.

In this post we have covered #2 of  5 things You need to know before shopping for a funeral. 1). The basics of the funeral process.2) The two contracts at every funeral. 3). The basics of the funeral rule. 4). The No Decline Basic Services Fee. 5. How to Read a General Price List (GPL)  Today we coverred#2.

This is a wise saying, make sure your family mourns you not the cost of your funeral.

Your Funeral Guy, Blogger, State of Illinois

Your Funeral Guy: #1 of Five Things to Know Before Shopping For A Low Cost Funeral

Here are 5 things You need to know before shopping for a funeral. 1). The basics of the funeral process.2) The two contracts at every funeral. 3). The basics of the funeral rule. 4). The No Decline Basic Services Fee. 5. How to Read a General Price List (GPL)  Today we are covering #1.

1. The basics of the funeral process. The best way to handle this is to call a friend or relative. It is usually best to just  have them talk you through their experience so you may a get a handle on the funeral process. It is helpful to talk to more than one friend or relative.

You may consider a funeral cost book and  funeral planner like the book:
Rest in Peace: Insider’s Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral.This work is a helpful read and you can see the funeral process at a glance. You also may want to review blogs on the low cost funeral.

Another way to plan for your funeral is to go to one of two websites mywonderfullife .com or thefuneralsite.com These are free funeral planners on the web where you may record your plans and wishes for your friends and relatives. The funeralsite.com has created funeral guides that have low cost funeral homes listed. Right now they are have guides on the West Coast but theyare planning guides in every major metropolitan city in the United States.

To sum up begin planning to lower your funeral expenses and costs this way.

1. Talk to several friends or relatives about the funeral process.

2. Read about the low cost funeral process in blogs or a book.

3. Plan your funeral on the web. Use one of the free websites mentioned here.

Your Funeral Guy, Author, Funeral Director

Your Funeral Guy: The Average Funeral Cost of Traditional Funeral is over $8000.00 USD

The Average Cost of a Funeral in 2008 was $8000.00 USD +and maybe more. This year the NFDA  raised the average funeral cost in 2006 to $7,323.00 Dollars. This has been mentioned at this blog. Now how can this happen? The National Funeral Directors Association.collects statistics from funeral homes and funeral directors around the United States. If they receive more information they change the numbers.

Cost for traditional Funerals has been trending upward.  but at the same time lower cost funerals such as green funerals, cremation and direct burial are also growing to  the broad prosperity of all. This also has sent the traditional funeral cost upward. It has cut into funeral home profits.

So after much research I am lowballing the average cost of a funeral in 2008 to be $8000.00 USD.

The Over 50 Website declares the same average funeral cost. “the average US funeral costs over $8,000 as far as I can deduce from the sparse information that is published, and it seems very easy for funerals to cost from $10,000 to $20,000 or more!”

More information on how to lower average funeral cost can be found here:

Rest in Peace: Insider’s Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral

Your Funeral Guy.

Your Funeral Guy: ehow says Prepaying Funeral Costs is good for Funeral Home- Not the Consumer

“Consumer advocates say prepaid funerals are generally a poor choice for everyone but the funeral home. And the fees (from $5,000 to $10,000) can really burn you up.” This an excellent quote from this article.

http://www.ehow.com/how_109496_pay-funeral-expenses.html

Preneed Funeral Policies have fell into dispute. Every month there is an incident where a Funeral Director runs off with the preneed money.
This year we have had the Illinois Funeral Directors 41 million dollars funeral trust mismanagement and the National Prearranged Services 500 million Dollar Theft.
The AARP Magazine had an article in February 2008 advising folks not to prepay a Funeral. I believe that this has taken hold.

Saving money on funeral costs is becoming more popular in the current economic environment.

Be sure to let me know how you saved on funeral costs and funeral expenses.
R. Brian Burkhardt, Your Funeral Guy, Author “Rest in Peace Insider Tips To the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral “.
Funeral Director, State of Illinois, Virginia.

Your Funeral Guy: Medicaid and Funeral Cost.

Your Funeral Guy: Medicaid does not cover Funeral Cost.

Insurance and Pre need counselors often say that no matter how poor you are, you need to buy a life insurance policy or pre need policy covering your funeral.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_medicaid_cover_funeral_expenses

This is not necessarily the case.  If you put a little money aside and plan a lower cost funeral as outlined below that may be all you need to do. This funeral book will help.

Rest in Peace: Insider’s Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral by R Brian Burkhardt and Matt Bacak.  #1 International Best Selling Author Jason Oman also gave thumbs up to this book. This book is published by  Morgan James Publishing.This is your funeral cost book.

Your Funeral Guy, R Brian Burkhardt, Funeral Director, Author, Blogger, State of Illinois

Your Funeral Guy: The highest funeral cost is the death of the persons involved

Highest funeral cost is the death of the persons involved. No matter how much you pay for the funeral the highest cost is the ending of life. There is no price on that.

“This one gave me the shakes, all i knew was the wife ran off another man and the guy lost it.I was elected to measure the three bodies for casket. The fourth body was not given a casket, the father.”

Your Funeral Guy’s First Funeral Horror Storie

This is my never forget event. I thought I had prepared myself for everything I would see as a Funeral Director.The Husband had lost it and killed the three boys at His Home. Yes he had taken a gun and shot the three children 3 kids under 14.

This one gave me the shakes, all i knew was the wife ran off another man and the guy lost it.I was elected to measure the three bodies for casket. The fourth body was not given a casket, the father.

The boys were obviously vibrant. Even after shooting(suicide) himself the Father Looked Stressed.I lost it for about 2 minutes…How do i deal with this?

After 2 minutes I took a deep breath.

I completed the mortuary task.The father was given a cremation with no ceremony. This cost very little.. The three boys were given a lower cost dignified funeral. There is no human explanation for what had happened.

All I remember praying was that all four Rest in Peace.

More stories may be found in Rest in Peace Insider’s Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral by R Brian Burkhardt

Your Funeral Guy Funeral Director, Illinois and Virginia