“When my father died, I realized with full and painful awareness how much needed to be done for a decent funeral. The planning had to be done quickly, but in the wake of his unexpected death, I was barely capable of getting out of bed in the morning. Who was going to make all these arrangements if not me, his only child? Who was going to pay for the stack of bills that started showing up on MY doorstep?”
-Debbie, 47
Is Debbie’s story typical?
In this industry, we hear stories like Debbie’s all the time. The reason we believe that pre-planning is so crucial is to avoid stressful situations like the one Debbie was in. Most people don’t realize what a burden it is on their loved ones after they die. Planning and paying for a funeral is an enormous task, and the grief that your loved one will be going through simultaneously only adds to the stress.
So how do you protect your loved ones from this difficult experience?
The answer is pre-planning. Making your preneed plans will reduce the responsibilities your loved ones are forced to face. Give them the time to grieve—preplan your service so everything goes smoothly. When things are already set, the funeral home that you choose is the responsible party, not your family member, who has more than enough to deal with.
What’s the difference between planned and pre-planned?
Planning your funeral is having a manila folder stuffed at the back of your file cabinet with the information for your burial plot and a few newspaper clippings of obituaries you liked. Planning like this may be helpful in a minute way, but it really does nothing to relieve the stress of putting together a series of services like your loved ones will still have to do. Planning your funeral by making a list of what you like in a funeral still requires your loved ones to arrange and pay for it. “Planning” may help you with your peace of mind, but it won’t help your loved ones in the same way.
How does pre-planning solve the problem?
Pre-planning takes care of all the arrangements way before it is necessary or urgent. By pre-planning your funeral, you can order, reserve, and pay for all the minutiae of the funeral and other services yourself. Leave nothing to chance, leave nothing on the shoulders of your grieving loved ones. By buying preneed insurance, you take care of any potential expenses as well as pre-making your arrangements.
You’ve spent your entire life taking care of others. Continue this legacy of caring by arranging your funeral to your specifications, and paying for it ahead of time so your loved ones aren’t landed with the bills and the headaches that accompany end of life services.
