How Does a Pre-Need Plan Work?

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Pre-Need Plan:

 Pre-Need Advantages:

• It helps you itemize the exact costs of your funeral, including all your choices, such as your casket, burial vaults, headstones, services of the Funeral Director and staff, embalming, removal, transportation, preparation of remains, cremation, urns, use of facilities for services and chapel, use of hearse, and many of your other options and preferences. (Click on this link view a General Price List)
• Once you choose your pre-arranged funeral preferences, you may also pre-arrange the cost of such a plan. This is accomplished because you have worked with one of our Pre-Screened and Qualified™ Pre-Need Specialist to structure the exact details of what you want in your funeral plan as noted above.
• It is considered to be “inflation-proof” because it establishes a “price-freeze”, which contractually guarantees the total costs of your prearranged plan, regardless of any future inflation or funeral price increases.

Pre-Need Disadvantages:

• Unless a single-premium payment is used to fund this Pre-Need Plan, you must be alive a certain number of years in order for this insurance to fund the entire costs. In other words, if you choose to fund this plan over time using either a payment plan or installments, there is a possibility that your family and/or loved ones could only receive a portion of the insurance. These percentages and details vary depending upon the type of plan, payment methods, your health, and the year you pass.
• The total costs of this plan can vary greatly depending on your age, health, and the year in which you pass.

Why Use a Funeral Trust To Pay For Your Expenses?

Many believe you should use a Funeral Trust to prearrange your funeral expenses.

Advantages of a Funeral Trust:

»  Your total funeral costs can be guaranteed (depending on your form of payment as mentioned above).

»  The Funeral Home or Cemetery can be named as the Irrevocable Beneficiary to ensure all funds are used for the cost of your funeral and/or burial.

»  The monies can be invested over time, creating the potential for your heirs to receive an amount greater than the amount of insurance.

»  Funeral Trusts are administered by the state, and are heavily overseen and regulated by the state.

Disadvantages of the Funeral Trust:

»  Should the investment results not keep pace with inflation and the potential price increases for the cost of your funeral or burial, additional monies may be required at the time of death. (This can vary, depending on each individual state’s regulations.)

»  Should your investment results be high, and the Funeral Home or Cemetery is named as the Irrevocable Beneficiary, your family will not be entitled to any excess monies.

»  You do not have flexibility in choosing a beneficiary, as the proceeds must be made payable to the Funeral Home or Cemetery.

In summary…

The goal of using this Pre-Need Plan strategy, whether using an insurance policy or a Funeral Trust, is to fully preplan and prefund your end-of-life plan. This allows you the peace-of-mind to know that your loved ones are left with your special gift of knowing that they do not have to address any of these difficult questions, concerns, uncertainties, worries, or stresses at a time of such grief and loss.

We firmly believe the most important step you can take when considering a Pre-Need Plan is to work with one of our Pre-Screened and Qualified™ Pre-Need Specialists so they can help you understand exactly how these work, review all of your details and options, provide you with valuable materials that contain all the fine details that you should read and review, discuss their current prices by giving you a copy of their General Price List, and even provide you with a FREE quote.