Funerals - Funeral Expenses
In this article we're going to talk about funeral expenses and
how to get a handle on them so they don't eat you alive.
There is an old joke that goes "the only thing certain in life
is death and taxes." Obviously whoever made that remark never
got to meet a rich man with more tax loopholes than the United
States has illegal immigrants. But one thing in life is certain
and that's death. And with that certain death are the certain
expenses that come with it.
Over the years funeral expenses have skyrocketed to the point
where the average family literally can't afford to die. Well,
there is a way to get a handle on your funeral expenses and that
is the focus of this article.
You may or may not know this but there are over 20,000 funeral
homes in the United States accounting for over $25 billion in
revenue annually. That money doesn't come from cheap funerals.
It comes from expenses that are insane when you think about the
actual service being provided.
There are actually three corporations that dominate the
industry; SCI, Stewart and the Loewen Group. These three giants
account for about 15% of the total funeral business in the
United States. The reason you probably haven't heard of them is
because when they buy up a funeral home they usually keep the
old funeral home's name in order to give the impression of a
small family owned business. This couldn't be farther from the
truth. And because they have basically taken hold of the
industry, they can charge whatever they like for funeral
services. How much?
Let's take a metal casket. If you take the cost of a metal
casket, materials and labor, the casket actually only costs
about $450 to $700 to make. This same casket is sold to families
for about $3,000. That's well over a 400% markup. If any other
industry tried to get away with this they'd be shut down.
But the insane costs don't stop there. A hearse that costs about
$25 an hour to rent will be billed at a rate of about $200 per
hour. Flowers that cost about $25 are sold for about $150. The
clergy will charge you a couple of hundred bucks for his
services. Then there's the burial itself. Opening the grave
costs money as does lowering the body into the ground. By the
time you're done a simple no frills funeral can cost you close
to $10,000. The actual physical cost of the services provided to
you are maybe $2,000.
What is a poor family to do?
The best way to get a handle on expenses is to actually get as
little from the funeral home as you can. For example, there is
no law that says you have to get a casket from the funeral home.
Try going to a wholesaler or online. You can get a very good
deal on caskets and save hundreds of dollars.
The same with the flowers and hearse. Go to an outside florist
for your flower arrangements and to a private rent a car company
for your hearse and limos. Most likely you will end up saving
lots of money there too.
As for the cemetery expenses, there isn't much you can do about
that. But by saving money in other areas your $10,000 funeral
can be knocked down to $8,000 or even $7,000. The disadvantage
is that you're going to have to do a lot of work on your own
that the funeral home would have normally done for you. But if
saving money is your first priority then this is the way to go.