Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Necrophobia Fear of death or dead things

Did you know that fear of death is  between 10 and 12 of the top most fears?

To many,  dying is the unknown and most try to prevent it.  Dying is part of the cycle of life and we all are headed that way.  How you live your life and how you prepare only you can make those choices.  I see people in their 70s trying to regain their youth by exercising, eating healthier and trying to avoid stress. 

There are many sites (Internet) that can tell you when you will die, how you will die, etc... just Goggle "death". 

Don't wait until you have had a major medical complication or have your loved one go through a rough patch to think about dying. 

Pre-planning or making pre-arrangements for burial is designed to protect your family from unnecessary pain and stress during a time of loss.  To made matters worse, an immediate financial strain is placed on surviving family members.

Prearrangement is one of the most meaningful gifts of love you can provide for your family.  



Monday, June 18, 2012

Cash Advance Items

Cash Advance Items are charges that usually fall to the family at the time of death in addition to funeral home expense.  They require cash on hand to pay for them and include expenses such as flowers from the florist and charges from the newspaper for obituaries.  As you can see, these are funeral related costs, but the charges do not originate from the funeral home itself.

The good news is, you can spare your family from the burden of coming up with the cash for these out of pocket expenses by making arrangements ahead of time in your prepaid funeral contract.  You can even pay for these expenses over time, along with the rest of your prearranged funeral.

The funds you set aside today will grow along with your prepaid funeral contract in order to guard against inflation.

Examples of Cash Advance Items include:

  Death certificate                                                  
  Transportation expenses
  Obituary and death notice fee                               
  Catering for luncheon or reception
  Clergy honorariums                                               
  Vocalist                                                               
  Police escort
  Clothing                                                                
  Flowers
  Grave opening/closing, Monument/marker
  Unforeseen expenses

If you do not have these items in your contract let your family know.  Your gift to your family would be  to get a prepaid funeral arrangement and take the burden away from your loved by making the decisions and choices for what you want.