Thinking about the need for a funeral home is never fun, but it’s a necessity in life. Most people do business with a funeral home only a handful of times, so it can be hard to know which one is the best to use for your needs. After all, it’s not as routine of a task as heading to the supermarket for a weekly visit.
Here are several suggestions from trusted sources on how to choose a funeral home.
- Do your research in advance. Choosing a funeral home when someone has died can be extremely challenging. With the shock or stress of the death, it’s easy to choose a funeral home just because it’s the closest to your home—only to later realize the staff are unfriendly, or the prices are outrageously high. If you can, research funeral homes in advance and select one that suits you or your family. Even if you don’t pre-purchase your funeral, you can at least let loved ones know which funeral home you’d like to use.
- Give some thought to the kind of services you want.One thing many funeral homes will want to know is if you want a traditional burial or cremation. Although each choice involves a different way of taking care of the body, the other options for services can work the same for either choice. For instance, you could still have a cremation and then have the cremation urn buried in the ground. Cremation is sometimes selected to save money, but not always. There are people who have selected cremation and have gone on to have elaborate, costly services. That said, there are also ways to cut costs. Ask your local funeral home if they have information to guide you through service selections. Take some time to review those options thoughtfully, and talk them over with loved ones.
- Compare costs. Funerals are not cheap. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the national median cost of a funeral with viewing and burial in 2016 was $7,360. However, that doesn’t include cemetery, monument, or marker costs, in addition to miscellaneous cash-advance charges. If price is an issue for you, then do some cost-shopping in advance. You can ask for a price list if you visit a funeral home in person, or you can ask for prices over the phone. Under Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules, funeral homes are required to share prices when you ask for them. The breakdown of funeral costs can get tricky, so read this informationfrom the FTC in advance to help you better understand funeral costs.
- Don’t be afraid to personalize.More and more, funeral directors will work with families to personalize services to reflect the personality of the loved one. If you are planning a funeral, give some thought to music, belongings, pictures, or other items that connect to the person’s life. If this kind of personalization is important to you but you find your local funeral home is not open to it, you may want to find another funeral home that is more supportive.
- Ask for help.Work through the process of funeral home selection with family members or trusted friends. If you want outside help from a trusted source, Secure Aging can help. Because Secure Aging helps seniors manage their finances, employees have worked with a variety of area funeral homes and can provide useful advice for the selection process.
Call Secure Aging to Find Out How We Can Help Seniors With Financial Management
At Secure Aging in Bradenton, wetransform the weight of the world into a sigh of relief for our senior clients and their concerned family members. The mission of Secure Aging is to protect and preserve our client’s independence and dignity through careful and thoughtful financial and care management. As our clients age, it is their desire to remain independent and age with dignity. Our services protect our clients from talented con artists looking to exploit and deplete the financial resources of our vulnerable seniors. Secure Aging helps families in Manatee County and Sarasota County and in and around the communities of Anna Maria, Bradenton, Bradenton Beach, Ellenton, Holmes Beach, Lakewood Ranch, Longboat Key, Myakka City, Palmetto, Parrish, and Sarasota. Call us at 941-761-9338, or visit us online at www.secureaging.com.
