None of us like to talk about death, it’s a somber subject and most people would just rather think about something else.
While I completely understand this outlook, death is still something that affects us all at some point and with recent figures showing that the cost of an average funeral has risen to around £7,600 – including the cost of having the funeral, arranging the burial or cremation, and then adding on the cost of state administration fees – it appears that death is a subject that many of us simply can no longer afford to ignore.
If the above figures have gotten you a little worried about how you might find this kind of cash in the event of an untimely death, then here are a few ways to financially prepare for death which you might want to consider.
Open a Savings Account
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While the idea of setting up some kind of savings account to cover the cost of a funeral may seem obvious, it’s amazing how many people would reject this idea, simply because they feel the idea is a little bit on the morbid side.
While death isn’t the most pleasant thing to save for, doing so may mean that the financial burden of covering your own funeral costs will not then be passed on to other family members if the worst were to happen.
Though do look into the level of interest rates that your savings account provides, as you may find that with the rising cost of funerals it may not effectively cover the final funeral costs.
Funeral Plans
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One popular way which people choose in order to cover the cost of a funeral is to take out some sort of funeral plan or funeral insurance. Funeral plans in general will involve you paying a regular payment or a lump sum to the funeral plan provider.
The plan is a way of arranging to pay for your funeral in advance and the amount you pay will often be dependant upon the type or standard of funeral you would like when you pass on. You can also arrange a funeral plan on someone else’s behalf, as long as the funeral is going to be held in the UK.
Life Insurance
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Another way that you could plan to cover your funeral costs is to have some kind of life insurance in place. A life insurance policy will usually pay out a lump sum on death.
Some of the proceeds from the policy could then be put towards funeral costs, relieving some of the financial burden from other family members and also allowing you to have the kind of send off you would want, rather than having to do it on a tight budget because this is all that the finances allow for.
Peace of Mind
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While death may not be the most pleasant thing to plan for, we can clearly see that there are huge benefits to be had from financially preparing for this sad event.Here we’ve mentioned just 3 ways that you might be able to do this, but there will be more.
The good news is that once you have put the proper financial arrangements in place, you will then hopefully never have to think about it again, and you can get on with enjoying life knowing that you have done the sensible thing by preparing for this somewhat inevitable event.
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