Lock it in.
There are two things you can pay today and lock in today’s rates, protecting you from inflation. When you can pay in advance, you can save a whole LOT of inflation.
The first is prepaid tuition plans – you can lock in future tuition rates at in-state public colleges at current prices. For those saving for college, this seems like a great way to save money.
The second is final arrangements.
Pre-planning has multiple financial advantages.
Lock in today’s rates.
Recently I worked with a couple who paid about $5,000 back in the 70’s, securing a burial plot and funeral plans for both spouses. They saved about $15,000. Another person had paid $600 for a plot many years ago and the same plot at today’s rate would have been about $6,000.
Prices are not going down, so the younger you are when you plan, the more you save.
But it’s more than just saving money. None of us know how much time we have, and the younger you are when something happens to you, the more traumatic it is for the family and the more they would benefit from a plan being in place.
When i provide an urgent response to a hospital or hospice to help a family who is about to lose someone, they often say they wish they had done this far in advance. I’m holding someone’s hand as they, sobbing, pick out a casket for a spouse they are about to lose, or i’m talking to a family clinging to one another, answering their questions about what will be happening next when their daughter is taken off of life support and passes. I’m honored to help, but my goal for you, reading this, is that this piece of the burden is one you will not have to deal with at such a time.
If you’re over 21, or within the first year of a marriage, you should meet with a fiduciary financial advisor, a family estate attorney, and a funeral and cemetery professional.
Reduce over-spending
Families tend to spend much more when making emotive decisions at a time of grief and loss. Many families have shared with me that for previous losses they spent way too much, and they want to make sure their families are not left with that same burden of decisions and purchases.
Planning ahead gives you the opportunity to guide your family so that they know what you want. Maybe you DO want a custom-built casket resembling your 57 Chevy Bel Air hardtop, black & red with the flame job on the hood. If you do, they need to know that. But if you don’t, they need to know that, too.
Payment Plans
When you pre-plan, you have various payment plan options.
You are paying for specific merchandise or services, which you have chosen and that you then own, not paying into some empty pot of money that may or may not pay out at the time of death.
If it seems overwhelming now, it will be so much more so at the time. When a loved one is lost, the burden of grief and logistics is overwhelming. Pre-planning takes a big rock out of the backpack your loved ones will be carrying.
Let’s talk more about it:
