Are Consumers turning a way From Prepay-Preneed?-Your Funeral Guy.

It does appear that consumers(the public) seem to be lowering their Funeral Cost by turning away from preneed. The economy seems to be  the cataylst.

People are watching how their cash is spent.  The Latest SCI figures show a deficit in cemetery preneed sales. SCI (Service Corporation International) is the largest Corporate Funeral Home Provider in the United States They had to change their  future financial forecast due to diminished Preneed Sales.

Funeral directors need to be very cautious and show due diligence before enlisting a customer in a guaranteed or non guaranteed preneed contract.

This according to  deathcarelaw.com

“Has the economy caused consumers to put preneed on a back burner? Perhaps, but funeral directors can anticipate an increase in spend down inquiries. It is hard to turn prospective business away, but funeral directors need to consider how these transactions do not lend themselves to insurance funding or the conventional guaranteed preneed contract.”

The bottom line is that preneed-prepay might not be good for the Funeral Director or the consumer especially now.

In light of the combined Funeral Industry Loss of National Prearranged Services and the Illinois Funeral Directors Association(IFDA) of 1.6+billion dollars due to preneed scandal, if you go to a funeral home and they try to pressure you into a preneed agreement, please do not participate.

I strongly advise the public not to prepay or do preneed insurance, guaranteed, or non guaranteed.

Funeral Industry/Funeral cost blog by your funeral guy.

Source: Deathcarelaw.com

You can follow up on due dilegence here

SCI FACTS at Yahoo News

Disclaimer: This blog post assumes  the figures at KansasCity.com are correct.

Your Funeral Guy: Pet Funeral Cost at a Pet Funeral Home

Green Cemeteries are showing up all over the country lowering funeral cost. So are Pet Cemeteries raising the fumeral cost by adding a new type of Funeral..The pet funeral.

Pet Cemeteries are best kept apart from people cemeteries.

Here is an interesting list of Pet Cemreteries from Buffalo. Are they in your area?

http://1586.yippie.biz/ny/buffalo/

more information can be found here.

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.

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

The “Google Books Search” give a look inside the book.

Your Funeral Guy: Traditional verses Low Funeral Cost

People over 70 want traditional funeral cost

Boomers want funeral cost lowered

“Younger people want to plan in advance and think about costs of their own funerals and older people – over 70 – are more traditional, using funeral homes familiar to the family, for example” says Mark Duffy, CEO of Everest, the first national funeral planning and concierge service.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/funeral-want-service-2100292-people-cremation

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.

Your Funeral Guy: Funeral Cost-Options Caskets up to 1/2 off

According to a recent Funeral Cost ( Newsweek and the FCA) article Caskets can be obtained for 1/2 off from an alternate source or on the internet. According to Newsweek and the FCA:

“The funeral-home defendants are charging about double for caskets that are identical to what you can get elsewhere,” says Gordon Schnell, an attorney representing the class-action defendants. “You can buy caskets privately, on the Internet, at Costco—we want to get the word out that consumers have options.”

Funeral home defendants described here are: the major Funeral Home Corporations and the major casket corporation.These are the major funeral corporations in America.

Unfortunately family funeral homes also employ this tactic Some Funeral Home leaders mentioned on this blog do this( Hultrgen Funeral Home, Calvert Funeral Homes and Trimble Funeral Homes). Just to be clear half off is an estimate and does not apply to all areas of the country

The full Funeral article including the bit on funeral corporations in Newsweek can be viewed here:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/144482/page/2

Paying less for a funeral and Caskets promotes the broad prosperity and better future for all.

More information on lowering the information on lowering the average cost of a funeral can be found here:

Rest in Peace: Insider’s Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral by R Brian Burkhardt and Matt Bacak

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

Be sure to let me know how you achieved low funeral cost

Your Funeral Guy: Newsweek article creates Funeral, Cost, FCA controversy.

On July 3rd 2008, Newsweek did an article creating a funeral, funeral cost and FCA- Funeral Consumer Alliance stir. The picture of the biodegradable casket gives you a look at future funeral cost. Joshua Slocum of the Funeral Consumers Alliance also did a great Job handling comments after the article appeared. Slocum is a true Funeral Futurist. The article is Called “A Serious Undertaking.”

Quoting from the Newsweek Article:

“the annual conference of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a watchdog group for the death-care industry that advocates simple, personalized and environmentally sound alternatives to the typical American burial.”

Joshua Slocum is exactly correct when the article quotes him:

“I want people to be shocked,” Slocum says, “that in some states, the body belongs to the mortuary by state law. And once a funeral director has got a body in the door, it’s over.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/144482

As stated in the Book Rest in Peace Insiders Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral Once the Funeral Director puts your loved one on the mortuary cot, The funeral cost clock starts running.

Two books can help here with the average cost of a funeral.

Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial by Mark Harris

Rest in Peace: Insider’s Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral by R Brian Burkhardt and Matt Bacak

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

Be sure to let me know how you achieved low funeral cost.

Your Funeral Guy: As Low Funeral Cost approaches Funeral Songs Change

As Low Funeral Cost approaches Funeral Songs Change. Yes as music Christian and otherwise drift away from the traditional. Funeral Cost and Hymns are also Changing. Boom Boxes often replace organists and soloists fora sure fire way to lower funeral cost as well as the average cost of a funeral.

ADELAIDE, Australia – Hymns are being replaced at funerals in one Australian city by popular soft and hard rock classics like Led Zeppelin‘s “Stairway to Heaven” and AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” a cemetery manager said in Australia.

Some of the less traditional choices are mentioned here:

Among other less Traditional choices in Australia were “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” by the Monty Python comedy team, “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead,” “Hit the Road Jack,” “Another One Bites the Dust” and “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.” The full article can be viewed here:

Yahoo News.

It is a very precious thing to hear groups of folks sing Louis Armstrong’s “It is a Wonderful World” or Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” as a funeral song. Tim Russert’s service did feature “over the rainbow.”

If you go to a Funeral you will still probably hear “Amazing Grace”

Good General information can be found on funerals and Funeral Cost are here in two books.

Two books can help here

Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial by Mark Harris

Rest in Peace: Insider’s Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral by R Brian Burkhardt and Matt Bacak

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

Be sure to let me know how you lowered the cost of your funerals.

Your Funeral Guy: Green Funerals Lowering Funeral Cost

Green Funerals are lowering Funeral Cost. As we move Forward into the 21st Century Green Funerals are growing and low funeral cost is on the rise.

From England, to Maine, to the Carolinas, Florida and Washington State to Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Here is the story from New Zealand.

“A green funeral is a way of reducing one’s carbon footprint — from the choice of casket to the way loved one’s dispose of remains.”

As the article points out Green means lower funeral cost.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaruherald/4604146a6571.html

If you want a list of the green cemeteries in the United States description, and it all here

http://www.thegreenfuneralsite.com/GreenCemeteries.html

Some information on biodegradable caskets can be found at CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/12/27/green.coffins.ap/index.html

More information on Lowering the average cost of a funeral can be found here:

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 also gave thumbs up to this book. This book is published by Morgan James Publishing.

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

The “Google Books Search” give a look inside the book.

http://books.google.com/books?q=r+brian+burkhardt&btnG=Search+Books

Your Funeral Guy:Slow Economic Times bring Lower Funeral Cost.

It as apparent that as the economy is sliding...that low cost funeral is arising. This is indicated with the rise of Low Funeral Cost Cremation. A Casket and a traditional funeral often do not help a family in hard times We see the rise not just of low cost funerals but low cost cremations go strong as well.

This video from El Paso, Texas is informative.

http://medianewsgroup.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/medianewsgroup-tnmnp-elpaso-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=timesmedia&maven_referralObject=e9184947-d40f-4ae8-99f9-17861b424b8f

If you prefer to read an article here is one.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_9712934

More information on Lower Cost Cremations can be found here:

There are Four benefits of a low cost cremation funeral.

1. A lower burial cost option.

2. A no burial cost option

3 A Scattering of Ashes at a later date.

4. A burial of ashes at a later dare.

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 also gave thumbs up to this book. This book is published by Morgan James Publishing.

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

The “Google Books Search” give a look inside the book.

http://books.google.com/books?q=r+brian+burkhardt&btnG=Search+Books

Your Funeral Guy – All Funeral Directors do not wear white funeral cost hats.

Your Funeral Guy - All Funeral Directors do not wear white funeral cost hats.

First I sold newspapers for 12 years and witnessed the rise of Funeral Cost along with Newspapers.- News, sports, classifieds, entertainment, and obituaries(part of Funeral cost) are all parts of Newspaper sales training. Funeral Directors are a key part of obituary sales..and often they are given a pass on scrutinizes because of the obituary. Many an elderly person turns to the obituary to see the person that they might of known who has passed on.

Second -There is more than one scandal. In the January-Issue of the AARP Magzine the scandals are outlined. Here is the Link.

http://www.aarpmagazine.org/money/funeral_rip_off.html

Since that article there have been more individual Funeral Home scandals and two big ones.

The IFDA Preneed Trust big boy #1 had a 40 Milliion loss of the folks of the State of Illinois. Big Boy#2 is National Prearranged Trust–NPS. Scandal, theft and shut down. This NPS Scandal applied to most states in the USA and involved many preneed companies. This is not a one or two rogue situation!

Third, in the 21st Century “Rest in Peace” people in the USA are informed of their rights under the funeral rule and told what is to happen when they go through the funeral process. Suggestions are made on how to negotiate with funeral directors. There is a chapter on the past and funerals and funeral directors are supported. The 21st Century “Rest in Peace” skips whistle blowing and simply helps folks with future funerals and funeral cost

Fourth, we are 8% of the way into the 21st Century and focusing on the past while helpful at times is not where and when change in the Funeral Industry will occur. Good luck though on trying to make it happen from the inside. Like Cremation change will most likely come from the outside.

All funeral directors do not wear white funeral cost hats.

Author Rest in Peace, published May 1st 2008.

1.Newspaper and obituary ( funeral) cost rose at the same time

2.Funeral Home Scandals cost

3.21st century cost will be lower.

4.Funeral cost change is coming just like cremation change.

More information can be found here:

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.

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

Your Funeral Guy Disney World could help folks with Funeral Cost.

Scattering your ashes at Disney world can be a low funeral cost option.You see in most cases no one probably will know if you scatter your ashes at Disney World on a ride. This is more than an an urban funeral cost legend. Some folks are violently opposed to this. I do not think that Walt Disney the Low Cost Funeral Guy and cremation pioneer would oppose this. I do not think the FTC,or the AARP would be against it.

Unofficial funeral directors let folks know they can scatter ashes where it is not allowed.

Several years ago Channel 6 in Orlando Reported:

“Possible Scattering Of Human Remains On Disney Rides Reported
Ride Closed, Police Alerted After Woman Seen Dumping Substance On Ride

Disneyland workers were recently forced to close the “Pirates of the Caribbean” attraction after a ride security camera caught a woman apparently dumping human remains, in what may be a growing trend.

Workers at the Anaheim theme park spotted the woman sprinkling an unidentified substance into the water on the “Pirates” ride. Anaheim police were notified of the incident.

The woman told Disney park workers that the substance she dumped was baby powder, but officials are investigating the possibility that she sprinkled human ashes, Local 6 reported.

Some Disney watchers said park-goers tell them that people smuggling in the cremated remains of their loved ones and then sprinkling ashes on rides has been going on for a while.

They said it started at the Haunted Mansion, but now the “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride is growing in popularity.

…

Disney officials said they were unaware of any confirmed ash-scattering incidents in the park and didn’t believe it to be a problem, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Park officials said there was no real way of knowing if cremated remains were dumped into the “Pirates”ride.”

Simply Google scatter ashes at Disney World for more information.

More information can be found here:

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.

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