2010 Saw the Rise of the Part Time(USA) Funeral Director-YourFuneralGuy

Picture of  Cremation URNs Image via Wikipedia

Funeral Homes as a small business(USA) in 2010 saw the rise of the part time Funeral Director. With the recent  (Obama’) administration not so subtle opposition to small business,  the funeral industry decline, the rise of cremation and folks wanting to pay less for funerals  this is an expected result.

The administration  in the United States may change their position on this( small business). But for 2011 at least the rise of the part time funeral director will continue.

Over the Year I have spoken to many funeral home owners who are avoiding paying benefits(Health mainly) by using part time funeral directors.

This is consistent with documented  rise of health care rates, at the end of 2010 and the slow  recovery from the great recession.

The great Baby Boomer Die off( death trend) is not likely to occur in 2011)barring a  major national disaster or Armageddon scenario.

The use of Part Time Funeral Directors will grow in 2011 alongside the trend to lower funeral cost

Funeral Industry| Funeral News| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

This is an original your funeral guy post, the opinion of Your Funeral Guy, and not based on scientific data.

Funerals Still Expensive-Your Funeral Guy

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In spite of  the many options to lower the cost of a funeral,  most folks do find funerals expensive and have trouble lowering the cost of  a funeral or finding a way to lower the cost of a funeral. The Funeral Consumers Alliance can help with lowering  the cost of a funeral alon with the book Rest in Peace Insiders tips to the low cost less Sttress Funeral.

When you think of a funeral, many people think about the casket, the church service and grave burial. But there are many other choices, especially if you’re looking to reduce costs.

It is an inevitable part of life. “It’s something we simply don’t like to talk about,” said Overton Ganong of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of South Carolina.

Dealing with death is hard. Not planning for it makes it worse. “It was such a whirlwind event, it was really kind of just numbing,” said Tammy Chapman.

Cancer took Chapman’s father Julian, and she was responsible for the funeral. He owned a burial plot, but didn’t have life insurance. That left Tammy with few options. “When he passed unexpectedly like that, we had literally just enough money to bury him,” said Chapman.

Tammy’s situation is all too familiar to the Funeral Consumers Alliance. “We see a lot of times families getting into real disagreements at the time of the death when there has been no conversation around these issues,” said Ganong.

Ganong says families should talk about what they want. Tight budgets make that conversation crucial. “Funerals are not inexpensive,” said Greg Dunbar, who manages a funeral home in Columbia.

via www.wect.com

funeral industry| funeral News Funeral blog by Your Funeral Guy

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80% of Families want to pay Less For Caskets-yourfuneralguy

Eighty Percent of the Families who purhase traditional funerals want to pay less for caskets. This is according  to National Funeral  Directors Association ( NFDA)  information given to www.wausaudailyherald.com

A Wisconsin man is selling Caskets for about $1,000 Less than the usual cost at a funeral home.

Folks are demanding lower funeral cost.

The Antigo man — now a casket maker — this summer opened Caskets and More at Cedar Creek Mall in Rothschild, where he offers direct sales of the single most expensive funeral item: Caskets.

He said he can shave at least $1,000 off what people pay for caskets at funeral homes, and his efforts are coming at a good time. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the slow economy has pushed more families to seek out less expensive funerals.

Funerals, on average, cost about $7,300, according to National Funeral Directors Association data, and about 80 percent of families are thwarting costs with the purchase of cheaper caskets.

via www.wausaudailyherald.com

Funeral Industry| Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Funeral Cost, Pre-plan, No Prepay-Your Funeral Guy

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It is best to pre-plan your funeral, wise not to prepay. Preplanning can save your family from difficult decisions when they are emotionally distraught.Preplanning is not difficult, and does not have to take along time. It doses involve some thought.

Prepaying a funeral can be dangerous. Each preneed contract is different. In most cases you cannot get your money back. If you move the Funeral may or may not be transferable to another state. There is  also the risk of the Funeral director taking your money. The Illinois Funeral Directors Preneed trust Ponzi Scam (100 Million gone) and the National Prearranged Services Scam(Estimated 1 billion) gone are prime examples of Preneed gone crazy.

Funeral Cost is gaining attention in the media.

Snippet from CBS:

First, try to preplan. We’re used to shopping around for everything else, but people feel like they need to spend big on funerals as a way to show their love. It’s a good idea to have a family discussion or leave instructions in your will about what you want. That helps determine how much to set aside, and keeps family and friends from spending too much.

Don’t pre-pay. Funeral homes’ pitch to lock in funeral costs by pre-paying while you’re alive may sound appealing, but it’s almost never a smart idea. State regulation controls how much if any of those plans can be refunded, should you move, or if the funeral home goes out of business. Most offer little recourse. It’s better to create a payable-on-death account or a funeral trust through a life insurance company.

via www.cbsnews.com

The preneed pitch to lock in today’s prices now to save on Funeral Cost is simply not true in this economy. No Investment can be guaranteed due to the great recession.

Funeral Industry, Funeral News Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

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Sex, Death,Sell High End Caskets and Calender at Connecting Directors.com|Your Funeral Guy

2004 Calender Cover from Cisa Company website

About 2 years ago I wrote a blog post about how Merchants of Death are using sex and death to sell casket and warned about Cisa Caskets and their Calender.

Here is a snippet from the original 2007 post.

“They have thinly clad females standing, next to, leaning on and wrapping themselves around caskets The caskets are quite pricey, They even have a pinup calender with girls next to casket on a by the month casket.

This is an indication of how far Merchants and Merchants of death will go to promote their overpriced products. When shopping for anything, and especially for a funeral its best to go for lower price. Please make the choice of lower funeral cost. Anytime we can fall for the sex sells trick .I find it is always good to move my eyes somewhere else.” READ MORE-via www.progressiveu.org

It is very sexist and not wise to promote almost pornographic pictures and such high expensive CASKETS  at a website for FUNERAL PROFESSIONALS.

MORE ON THE SITUATION AT CONNECTING DIRECTORS!

2010 calender at the connecting directors store

The Casket calender here is the sexist promotion at the Connecting directors store.

All this is unsettling , unprofessional

Let’s use some common sense:What is the hardly dressed scantily clad woman going to do with the handcrafted casket?

Or the person in the casket? View Some Monthly Pics You see the pictures be the Judge Click HERE

WHAT IS BEING DONE is more than unprofessional.

Promoting this type of product is degrading to  women, the dead ‘ the Funeral Process and the Funeral Profession.

Funeral Industry|Funeral News| Funeral blog by Your Funeral guy

material from the ProgressiveU under the creative commons license

This post is a reccomendation not to use CISA caskets or connecting directors.

Your  Funeral Guy is no longer  a member of Connecting directors.com  because of the CISA  calender and other recent actions of the webmaster.

Remember the caskets in that calender are expensive just like Batesville and will not help you come in under the average cost of a funeral.

The calender comes from an Italian company-Their site here: http://www.cofanifunebri.it/

Average cost of A Funeral-$7,622 per Year-NFDA|by yourfuneralguy

Average cost of the funeral is $7,622.00-National Funeral Directors Association

The National Funeral Directors Association has declared the Average Cost Of a Funeral to be $7,622.00 per year. The previous figure listed for average  funeral cost at the NFDA website was $7,323.00 per year. This figure does not include cemetery costs but does include a casket and a vault. Most Industry experts put the average cost of a funeral in the United States at $10,000 in 2009.

Snippet from the  Daily Journal .com in Kankakee,Illinois.

“According to the Wisconsin-based National Funeral Directors Association, our nation’s sluggish economy is taking a toll on the funeral industry.

The group reports that the average cost for adult funerals in Illinois that include a casket and vault is $7,622. Yet, some families are spending less than that by choosing cheaper caskets and urns, reducing services and events — for instance, shorter visitation hours, or foregoing a graveside service — and purchasing fewer flower memorials.”

The average cost of a funeral has been trending downward. Cremation has been on the rise. Still the National Funeral Directors Association Lists a  higher average for funeral expenses.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Funeral Home Bankrupcy is Here |Illinois Threatened-yourfuneralguy

Will Funeral Homes turn to Bankruptcy?

Funeral Home Bankruptcy is here with the Economic Downturn. Funeral home bankruptcy is being reported in the press. According to one Press Report Funeral Home owners in Illinois are fearing this due to the Illinois Funeral Directors Association(IFDA Preneed Trust) Ponzi Scheme /Scandal.

Now Funeral Homes in Fear of Bankrupcy can be a help to the funeral consumer. Funeral homes in this economy are much like, thr car dealerships, newspapers, insurance companies, the banks and the wall street folks who are seeking a bailout.

They want to do  business with you so should  be able to negotiate a lower cost funeral with excellent merchandise and services. One should be able to negotiate below the average cost of a funeral.

Generally, Funeral Home Bankruptcy or closures are kept quiet. When Scandal is the cause of funeral home closure, the scandal  is not reported but not the bankruptcy. Many times a Funeral home that goes out of business is picked up by a competitor so no actual bankruptcy is reported in reference to the funeral home.

Recent reports of Funeral Home bankruptcy are below.

WEST VIRGINIA,”Preston County-Based Funeral Home Chain Files for Bankruptcy”at wboy.com

GEORGIA-”Dent’s Funeral Home Owner Speaks Out-It was another day at a bankruptcy hearing for the owner of Dent’s Funeral Home“-wjbf.com

In Illinois, a recent article reported fear of bankruptcy was  reported in reference to the Illinois  Funeral Directors Association Scandal. Quote on the

“The dispute has led to lawsuits and fears of bankruptcy from funeral directors.“-Springfield, Il State Journal Register, Springfield, Illinois.

Funeral Industry|funeral blog by Your Funeral Guy.

Now A Funeral Cost Last Stand-Your Funeral Guy.

In an effort to come in under the average cost of a funeral an Illinois Resident has taken her stand on  preneed for her family. She has recovered funeral cost money $1000.00 USD of the principal that was paid in 2003.

This lady successfully stood up to an Illinois Funeral Directors Association Funeral Home.  Not only did she negotiate with the Funeral Home(advocated here), she negotiated with the Comptroller of the State of Illinois, and the Illinois Funeral Directors Association-IFDA. You can view the full article here: Pre-need Funeral Investor Demands Repayment of Principal

This is a helpful example of how you can come in under the average cost of a funeral and negotiate your funeral cost.

The scenario is also instructive on why one should not prepay or purchase a preneed contract.

This is outlined in the funeral cost book.

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

Blog by Your Funeral Guy
rest in peace insiders tips to the low cost less stress funeral
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Your Funeral Guy: Funeral Films Coming Soon.

There are several Funeral Films coming to a theater near you. These are comedies. Comedy about Funerals can get you to think and plan your lower cost funeral.

I have already mentioned the Chris Rock co-written American remake of the British 2007 Film Death at a Funeral.

Variety reports on the American version.

Now Bill Murray, Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek are getting into the funeral  act in a film called “Get Low” The Film recounts a story from 1938 where a guy staged his own Funeral.

Murray and Lucas Black play Funeral Home co-owners. Duvall plays the Guy who staged the Funeral.

Generally speaking staging a funeral is a luxury scenario available to the rich about learning how it feels to be at your own funeral.

MTV reported on this one.

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

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