How would you feel if you were to leave the world one day and your loved ones who should be using their funds to take care of other important things in their life, start using everything to give you a befitting burial?
It will surely cause a financial strain on their pockets, and I'm sure you do not want them to go through sorrow mourning you and mourning their lost funds - which is double sorrow!
So, to avoid that, the best thing to do now while you're alive and kicking, is to get a burial insurance policy, because no one knows what can happen tomorrow.
For this reason, you will have to have knowledge about burial insurance before you can get the insurance policy, that's why I sourced painstakingly to put this up for your benefit. Just do yourself the favor of reading along.
I'll be discussing important areas under the burial insurance policy. Like;
• What is Burial insurance?
• How Burial Insurance Works
• Is Burial Insurance Worth It?
Let's get started.
WHAT IS BURIAL INSURANCE?
Burial insurance is a type of life insurance that is used to pay for merchandise bought for the course of a burial, and also for the funeral services.
Individuals can also buy for family members to provide money for the burial services, to avoid financial strain on their pockets at once.
HOW BURIAL INSURANCE WORKS
Burial insurance, like many other insurance policies, is a cash policy. This means that over time, it builds cash value.
And while other term or whole life insurance may demand substantial large amounts of money, a typical burial insurance plan can be purchased for way lesser amounts like $5000 and $10,000.
Therefore, the premiums for burial insurance are undeniably affordable than policies with bigger benefits.
Well, it's not anyone's fault that those other big benefits policies are like that. I mean, you get big benefits if you pay big premiums, and you get small benefits if you pay small premiums.
Just like the adage says; “What you sow is what you reap”.
Moving on, there is no change in premiums for burial insurance plans, and the assuring thing is that this type of policy provides permanent coverage.
The policy covers many costs relating to burial, inclusive of the cemetery plot and headstone, funeral procession, casket, and other related miscellaneous costs.
The policy has a death benefit of $5000 to $25,000.
It is possible to buy a policy after answering just a few questions relating to health. It is also possible to purchase the policy without a medical exam.
The premiums are usually collected at the policyholder's workplace or home, and the premiums are usually a small amount, like $3 or $4 per week.
Premiums are also payable monthly or weekly.
If you've been wondering how the death benefit is calculated, here's a tip - the death benefit is usually whatever the premium that is paid will buy, given the insured's age at that point in time. For example, a $4 per week premium will probably buy a $8000 death benefit for a man that is 36 years old, or a $24,000 death benefit for a young boy of 9 years old.
Here's a pretty satisfying thing too. Burial insurance policies can be purchased for all members of the family.
The insurance plan is mainly sold through agents of insurance companies or brokers whom are licensed to sell life insurance, although under some state laws in the U.S and some other top countries, funeral homes are often licensed to sell burial insurance.
There's also an approach in existence similar to burial insurance which is sometimes called “pre-need insurance”
that consists of the pre-payment of one's funeral arrangements.
The requirements under this program include selecting the type of funeral service, the type of funeral home, the type of casket or the way to perform cremation if that's the individual's choice, the headstone, the total cost of digging and filling the grave, the flowers, and other burial-related items.
Then after selecting, the insured is required to lock in the prices by paying in advance.
IS BURIAL INSURANCE WORTH IT?
This has been the question for a while now, and to be truthful, there are different opinions on how different people see it.
Consumer advocates have pointed out burial insurance as a policy that isn't benefiting enough to the buyer.
Many others consider it to be a predatory type of insurance aimed at people who aren't really educated and also earn little amounts of money.
They backed their claim up with the fact that burial insurance doesn't require a medical exam and there is a guarantee of acceptance, which means the pool of insured people is at high risk.
It is also said that in order for the insurer to make profit, the premiums have to be high relative to the benefit.
Even at that, most people with severe health conditions may qualify for policies way better than burial insurance.
The advice is that if the pressing issue at the moment is to make sure there is availability of funds to survivors for them to settle bills that were incurred due to a funeral, then it is better to purchase a term or permanent life insurance policy instead of buying the burial insurance policy.
Then if the pressing issue is to make sure that the wishes of the individual for either cremation, burial or memorial service is followed and funded, and the person's death is expected in a few years, it would pay to get a funeral provider and make prepaid pre-need arrangements.
Among all other possible strategies for making sure that survivors have enough money to pay for final burial costs, there's one that also seems reasonable.
This includes contributing regularly to a savings account for the burial purpose, in a joint account with a designated survivor or a trust account.
The saved money could then be withdrawn immediately after the individual's demise if needed.
This one is even easier because survivors will not have to wait for an insurance check or probate.
