Burial Insurance: A Real Need Or Unnecessary Expense
There is a product that is called a burial policy, or sometimes final expense or funeral insurance. These are actually small whole life policies that have been designed for people in middle age or retirement years who with to plan for the cost of final expenses. Insurers have developed them so they are simple for older people, even those in imperfect health, to apply for. They can be a valid part of some older people's financial planning.
Many people in this economy do not realize that if their employer forces them to retire or if they are laid off they will be left without any life insurance. Unfortunately, insurance is not portable and your employer sponsored life insurance will expire almost immediately after you leave the employer.
Many of the companies who provide Burial Insurance will have a small and easy application form for the recipient to fill in. This may then also be concluded with a telephone interview from the company. There may be no or little health related questions, but the company may request that there is a waiting period applied to the policy instead.
Guaranteed life insurance policies are usually a bad idea to start with--only somebody with a health condition that's so bad that he can't get life insurance in any other way should consider one. But Colonial Penn pushes these policies as the greatest thing since sliced bread...and they mainly market to seniors, people between the ages of 50 and 75. Using celebrities to bolster their pitch, they play on older people's fears of being uninsurable. They also play upon the sad fact that most seniors who don't have a financial background are very ignorant about full financial pictures, even if they own stocks and bonds. These people may believe that all they need as far as life insurance goes is a "burial policy" to finance their funeral.
This is one type of coverage that is common associated with seniors who are already retired. It is actually a whole life policy that has been designed for an easier application process so people from about 50 to about 70 (sometimes 80) years of age can be issued a policy.
The legal system has now made it a violation of federal laws for any life insurance company to use race as part of the criteria for underwriting, evaluation of risk, or pricing of an individual's life insurance policy. In fact, underwriters are not permitted to even know an applicant's race anymore.
With prices constantly increasing nowadays, which are also true with funeral costs, it is just advantageous to get it. Taking out insurance plans is becoming a necessity as it is also beneficial.
In summary, although nobody likes to think or talk about dying, it is one of the facts of life we all must eventually face. If you are trying to build a successful financial plan, the only way you can be sure your plan works smoothly and efficiently is to be proactive about your planning process. This is particularly true and necessary when creating a proper plan of succession, which I firmly believe should include an end-of-life plan.
Having everything planned is a wise decision. It is important that everything falls into place according to your plan. Just as important as such things are those that you do not expect or are not controlled by you. That is why availing a funeral insurance plan is important.