funeral homes in Shelby Charter Township, MI

Funeral Planning Mistakes to Avoid

Funeral planning at funeral homes in Shelby Charter Township, MI should be something that you are actively thinking and doing something about. You might be surprised at how many people make common funeral mistakes that are easy to avoid.

You may not want to think about planning your funeral right now. You may be at the peak of your life in your family, in your career, and in your personal life. While you’re riding that crest of wonderfulness, why should you think about things that are not so wonderful, like death and funerals? It’s crazy, right?

Actually, this is the kind of thinking, which is prevalent, that creates an avoidable funeral planning mistake. This mistake is either waiting until you are faced with a serious or life-threatening illness or advanced age to start planning for your death and your funeral.

The reality is that you will die. The reality is also that you don’t know when you will die. Because of the certainty that you will die and the uncertainty of when you will die, you need to be prepared now so that your family won’t have to bear the burden of making these decisions when you’re unable to help them.

One thing that you need to make sure that you have is insurance. You need, at a minimum, two types of insurance as part of your funeral planning.

One type of insurance that you need is life insurance. Having life insurance ensures that your family will be provided for after you die. Life insurance can be used to pay off your mortgage and other deaths and to cover your children’s educational costs, among other things.

The younger and healthier you are when you purchase life insurance, the less it will cost you. Whole life policies, even though the monthly payments are a little higher, are a better investment than term policies.

With a whole life insurance policy, your rates are locked in the time you buy the policy for the rest of your life. Term insurance policies have lower monthly premiums, but those premiums are only for a set period (or a term) of time (usually 10 years). Once the initial term expires, your premiums will then be adjusted based on your age, and they usually rise dramatically.

The second kind of insurance you need is burial insurance. Burial insurance policies are relatively inexpensive. Their payouts are usually capped at $25,000. But they are insurance policies that are specifically for paying for all your funeral costs.

With a burial insurance policy, your family will not have to use the money from your life insurance policy (which you bought to provide for their needs) to pay for your funeral.

funeral homes in Shelby Charter Township, MIOnce you have these two insurance policies, you need to formalize your funeral plans to avoid another common funeral planning mistake. While you can do this without the funeral home, it’s better to let the funeral home know exactly what you want. Include the type of funeral you want (if you want to be buried, let them know the cemetery information), the kind of service you want, and any other specific wishes that you have about your funeral.

Avoid the final funeral planning mistake by communicating all this information to your family. Be sure to have written documents and that they know where you keep them and your important papers.

Be sure to also let your family know that you’ve already preplanned your funeral with the funeral home and that the funeral home has all the information about your funeral on file already.

For more information about planning funerals at funeral homes in Shelby Charter Township, MI, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home can help.