Saving Money on Funerals

You can save a lot of money on funeral arrangements if you do a little research. Over the past few years, competition has decreased and prices have increased as the death-care industry has become dominated by a few companies that buy local funeral homes. (You may not realize it, but your local funeral home may be owned by one of these giants.)

To make matters worse, consumers who need death-care services are usually in very vulnerable and distracted states of mind, not wanting to skimp when it comes to honoring their loved ones.

Here are some smart ways to go about funeral planning:

• Take the time to get informed about the industry now, when you're not in a state of emotional upheaval. Learn how much things cost and think about what might be best for you and your loved ones.
  
  
• Make decisions before you need to. Get down in writing what your loved ones' wishes are. Once you know, for example, that Grandma prefers cremation and Grandpa wants a simple pine casket, you'll have fewer decisions (or guesses) to make later.
  
  
• Consider getting an inexpensive casket. Bodies will decay wherever they are, and the cost difference between caskets is great. Some cost many thousands of dollars; others cost several hundred dollars. (And many $3,500 caskets may have cost the funeral home just $700 wholesale.) Simple and dignified cardboard caskets are also a possibility. Don't believe anyone who tries to sell you something that will "preserve a body forever."
  
  
• In most cases, you don't have to buy the casket from the funeral home. You can often buy the same casket from a discount vendor (at substantial discounts) and have it delivered to the funeral home. Funeral homes are generally required to accept them.
  
  
• Beware the recommended rubber gasket (a.k.a. "protective sealer") which, according to some sources, costs just dollars to make but is sold for several hundred dollars. It's pitched as "protecting the body from decay," but nothing can stop a body from decaying.
  
  
• In most cases, embalming is not required, unless there will be an open casket. Many funeral homes will try to talk you into paying for it, though -- at an average cost of $400.
  
  
• Don't tell a funeral director more than you need to, such as how much money the deceased had, or what insurance benefits may be forthcoming.
  
  
• Take a friend with you when you talk to death-care providers.
  
  
• You can save some money and honor a death in a more personal fashion in several ways. You don't have to buy a casket -- you can build and decorate one yourself, or have one built. You don't have to use a funeral home's viewing room, either -- a loved one can "lie in honor" in someone's home, a community hall, or a church.

Get more info in our previous Q&A on how much funerals cost, the Funeral Consumers Alliance, Profits of Death, and the long but informative Funerals and Ripoffs.

For lots of tips on how to get your life in order, financially and otherwise, including how to lop off several hundred dollars from your monthly or yearly expenses, try our personal finance newsletter, Motley Fool Green Light. It's full of guidance and practical advice that will more than pay for itself in short order.