Burial Insurance, or
Senior Life: The easiest way for you to pay for final expense.
About
40% of today's working people do not have life insurance beyond
what they have with their employers. Employers of any size usually
provide group life insurance as a benefit because it is ridiculously
cheap for them, and they can deduct the cost from their taxes.
Most also forget to tell
people that if it is group term, it disappears when they leave the
job or retire. However, by the time you reach retirement age, the
cost of having your own insurance will be much more expensive; you
may think there is no way you can afford it on social security or
out of your retirement, and that your heirs will simply have to
bear that burden.
You still have
some choices.
You have probably been to funerals and have heard people talking
about Mrs. "Smith" who didn't have a penny of life insurance, and
thus the family had to decide how to pay the bill. An easy and inexpensive
way to avoid leaving your family with a bad memory is to purchase
"pre-needs" insurance. This is a type of whole life insurance policy
that you purchase from a funeral director. He is the beneficiary
on the policy, but you pay the premium. You receive a contract stating
that your funeral will be taken care of for the face value of the
policy. You do want to make sure the policy is transferable in case
you move to another city or state.
A second option that
people sometimes use when receiving a retirement distribution of
a 401K or IRA plan is to take a lump sum and simply "prepay" a funeral.
In this case, you make all the arrangements with a specific funeral
home, choosing your casket, the number of cars you want, the type
of service, and so forth. The funeral director gives you a contract,
but actually invests your money himself. His hope is that you will
live long enough for him to make a profit on your money.
Probably the
most preferred burial insurance (aka: Senior Life) option is simply
to purchase a small whole life policy of your own that will be enough
to pay final expenses. Then you choose the beneficiary
yourself. Many companies have "easy issue" policies that generally
have no medical exam requirement and are quite affordable.
Some people have severe
health issues that prevent them from getting even an easy issue
policy. In such cases, you can usually still get a pre-needs policy
from the funeral director, although it will probably be cheaper
to get a "Graded Benefit" policy. A graded benefit policy is simply
a whole life policy that pays a limited benefit—usually your premium
plus interest—during the first two years. It has no underwriting
at all as the company has very little risk. It is more expensive
than a regular life insurance policy, but is still an option for
meeting the need.
| Live
For Today, Plan For Tomorrow!
Mark Twain
once said, "Life would be infinitely happier if we could
only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen."
Can you imagine if that option was available? It certainly
would present a whole new world of possibilities! But until
scientists can make Mr. Twain's wish come true, we will have
to live for today and plan for tomorrow. |
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