Planning a funeral, memorial service, or cremation is never easy. However, these tasks remain unavoidable, and we all end up facing them at some point in our lives. For this reason, we will discuss the top three most common mistakes made in the funeral planning process and how to resolve them in order to carry out both a meaningful and budget-friendly memorial service for your loved ones.
Mistake #1: You do not discuss the funeral planning process with your family until it is too late.
Expect the unexpected: plan ahead.
Neglecting to acknowledge the importance of the funeral planning discussion is one of the most common mistakes made by families, as younger, working people typically do not yet concern themselves with end-of-life planning. However, we must all recognize that oftentimes, death comes unexpectedly. In the end, we are never fully aware of the potentially life-threatening situations that may arise on any given day.
With this in mind, the time has come to act accordingly. It is imperative to plan in advance so that your family is not overwhelmed by the sudden expenses that follow the death of a family member. Having a previously determined funeral or cremation plan with a set price will surely ease the financial uncertainty felt by families struggling with the death of a loved one.
Mistake #2: You wait to explore funeral home providers until after a family member has passed.
Educate yourself on your local funeral home providers. Explore your options today.
When the death of a family member occurs, those who are left behind often struggle with where exactly to begin. However, immediately following the death of a loved one is not the time to be exploring funeral home providers. This is a time of need during which families must grieve and remember their loved ones—it is not the time to only just begin to look into the different options for funeral planning.
Instead, this planning must be completed beforehand—you must shop the market now. Not all funeral homes will offer the same rates when it comes to caskets, embalming, cremation, and/or memorial services, so you must explore all your options beforehand in order to create a comprehensive funeral plan and budget for the future. You will find that by planning ahead, you will be able to spend more time to remember your loved ones following their passing, instead of concerning yourself with exploring countless funeral service providers last-minute.
Mistake #3: You are unaware of the expenses associated with dying abroad.
Transporting a body from another city, state, or country has the potential to become extremely expensive.
Many families are already unsure of how to proceed when a death occurs in their home city, so what happens when a family member dies on a work trip or on vacation? Expenses associated with funeral planning are already rising, and dying abroad only adds to these expenses significantly, as having to transport a body from place to place comes with extremely high costs.
More and more members of the baby-boomer generation are spending their retirement abroad. Accordingly, if you know of family members who are near their passing, it is in your best interests to inform them of the costliness of dying abroad so that large, unnecessary expenses may be avoided.
Use time to your advantage while you can. Take this time to preplan a funeral for your loved ones so that you are granted the luxury of being able to thoroughly explore your options. Nine times out of ten, families will pay more than what the market has to offer. Save money and prepare today.
If you are interested in attending a free, educational workshop to learn more about funeral planning, memorial services, cremation, burials, and more, you are welcome to R.S.V.P by email (info@sylegacy.net) or call (832)953-4229 for information on scheduled workshops and times in your area.
