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TIP STORE: FINANCES: Funerals
Choose a Pre-Paid Funeral Wisely to Avoid Asset Problems
My parents have pre-paid their funerals. It cost just under $5000 each, which means they are not classified as assets for aged pension purposes. My brothers and I know which funeral home they are with, mum and dad have chosen their sites at the cemetery along with the celebrant they would like so now all that's needed is to let the funeral home know that date required. My parents are only in their early 70's so hopefully that will still be quite a way away!!
Contributed by Gail Thring
Contributed by Gail Thring
Funeral Plan Eases Family DiStress
I have a funeral plan with APIA, anyone 50 or over can get cover with them, it costs me $5-37 a fortnight for $5000 worth of cover, which isn't a lot when you think of it, and it's money my kids don't have to find after I'm gone, so it might be worth shopping around for something like that.
Contributed by Vicki Judd
Contributed by Vicki Judd
Personalised Pay As You Go Funeral Plan
As full pensioners with medical problems both my husband and I decided to get this part of our lives under control at the beginning of last year. There is nothing worse than trying to organise things when you are emotionally in turmoil. We approached the "local" funeral business and talked it over with them. The result is that for a down payment and an amount we can afford to pay we have one funeral two thirds paid for. This is under a contract that either of us can use as it is in both our names. If we move house to another district or town not covered by this particular funeral business we notify them and the contract follows us. We chose the funeral plan we could afford and the "trimmings" we wanted. They took all our next of kin information down and have notated it on our file. The money does not go to them but to an Accredited Funeral Association Group where it is held (and gets interest on it) until it is needed. More to the point we only pay the amount of the funeral and do not keep on paying after we have reached the total cost of that funeral like you would if you took out ”funeral insurance". We have the plan we want and the surviving partner does not have to worry about monies for a funeral or be pressured into a plan they do not want nor cannot afford. It is important how ever to inform you next of kin that you have pre-paid your funeral (or have a funeral insurance)and who it is with so that when the time comes they know that it has been done and they can grieve without the added pressure planning a funeral from scratch gives.
Contributed by Knobie-frugal
Contributed by Knobie-frugal
Memorial Service Only Saves on Costs
Discuss all the options with the immediate family and you will be surprised what people really want as opposed to what is convention. If you can, take the opportunity to discuss the wishes of the dying person and discuss options with them. Having organised and attended many funerals for our immediate family over the past 25 years I am now certain that when someone dies those who are left behind need an opportunity to mourn, reflect, pay respects and tell stories. A memorial service after the body has been either buried or cremated privately is much cheaper than a full blown funeral with casket and funeral cars etc. If cremation is an option then have this procedure done as close as possible to the death. This saves on expensive coffins and storage of the body. With a close relative in a nursing home and unwell, and with all the immediate family overseas at the time, we investigated the costs of holding the body in a morgue until everyone came home versus the cost of immediate cremation and then a memorial service after everyone came back and the difference was $3,000. A planned memorial service or wake (without the body) can keep to a budget and also takes the pressure off the immediate family at the time of the death.
Contributed by Susan Head
Contributed by Susan Head
Pre-Paid and Organised
Seriously think about having a pre-paid funeral plan sooner rather than later. You can state exactly what you want. My grandparents organised theirs when they retired at $700. Some 20 odd years later - all I had to pay for was the flowers and the wake (afternoon tea is lovely!). The usual cost of the same service was $6,000 - now that's some investment!!
Contributed by Bindii B.
Contributed by Bindii B.
GO THE PRE-PAID FUNERAL PLAN
Don't buy a funeral plan. Instead visit the local funeral director and arrange for a pre-paid funeral. You can pay it off and once you have paid the full amount there are no more payments. They put your money in trust and the interest it earns covers any CPI increases. When my mum died we didn't have to worry about a thing. The best part was we received money back as the interest it earned was more than the funeral cost. Those insurance take your money and if you cancel you get nothing back.
Contributed by Janine Benson, 21st March 2014
Contributed by Janine Benson, 21st March 2014
CREATE YOUR OWN FUNERAL SAVING PLAN
Nothing irritates me more than those constant ads for funeral plans. I have been told to be very wary of them that you could end up paying $50,000. for a $10,000 funeral. Why not just open a Progress Saver Account at your Bank where you could be earning good interest instead of paying out your money for someone else to earn the interest, to a fund that could be questionable?
Contributed by Rae N., 20th March 2014
Contributed by Rae N., 20th March 2014
FUNERAL BOND V FUNERAL PLAN
I would recommend purchasing a Funeral Bond as opposed to a Plan. Your preferred funeral director will probably be able to arrange this and most offer payment plans. This means that you pay for the agreed funeral cost in advance with no ongoing payments. We did this for my Mum and it worked out really well as the Funeral Director already had our arrangements on file and handled everything for us. It also worked out heaps cheaper than ongoing payments.
Contributed by Maggie, 20th March 2014
Contributed by Maggie, 20th March 2014
SAVE YOUR PREMIUMS
Funeral insurance is almost always sold as what's called a stepped premium, meaning the cost of the premium in the first year escalates very quickly to eventually cost many times more than an expensive funeral would. If you cancel your cover you don't get any money back. If you were to save the equivalent of the funeral insurance premiums each year until you had enough to pay for a pre-paid funeral, your loved ones would be much better off. The only catch is that you have to live long enough after you start saving (which would be a few years, depending on how big a funeral you want, the returns on your savings and the funeral insurance your savings are replicating.)
Contributed by Nick Haggarty, 20th March 2014
Contributed by Nick Haggarty, 20th March 2014
FUNERAL PLANS SAVE MORE GRIEF
We are with APIA and have found them the cheapest. If he has the funds he can pay an up front funeral but its around $6,000. I just recently lost an older sister, she fell over and within 10 days was gone. She had the funeral plan and it was all sorted out and paid for within 48 hours through APIA.
Contributed by Robyne Neal, 20th March 2014
Contributed by Robyne Neal, 20th March 2014