Burial Insurance

If you watch TV, surf the net, or open your mail, and it you are a senior citizen or a caregiver, you have certainly seen ads for a product called final expense or burial insurance. The ads usually point out that funerals average $8,000 in the US, and in some areas, can cost much more. They also point out that senior citizens may leave other expenses behind. Debts need to be settled, a funeral will probably cause many people to make unexpected travel plans in a hurry, and sometimes, a body will need to be transported.

Now nobody likes to think about a loved one passing away. And yet, it is much better to give it some thought in advance, rather than waiting until arrangements need to be made in a hurry. Even if some planning were not needed, you will still have the matter of coming up with the cash to pay for everything. Now some funerals do sell something they call pre-need funeral plans. These have a place, but are not the perfect solution for everything. For one thing, they will probably not cover all expenses associated with the funeral itself, much less debt settlement, travel, or transporting a body.

So the alternative solution, called a final expense or burial policy, is actually a smaller face value whole life insurance company. These are designed for seniors, and some can be issued up to age 85. They usually do not ask many health questions, and some do not ask any health questions at all. The face value of these plans range from $2,500 to $25,000, and the smaller amounts make them easier to obtain for an older applicant. The smaller value also makes them more affordable. However, a few thousands dollars may be just the right amount of life insurance to make sure that final expenses are covered. In the world of life insurance, a few thousand dollars is considered a small amount, but for the children or grand-children, that can be quite a bit of cash to come up with in a hurry.