As 60% of people go into their later years without a will, many won't have their funeral costs prepared for, let alone what will happen to their estate. If you want to provide comprehensive preparations for your family and loved ones in the event of your death, you must choose the best final expense insurance. Choosing this insurance allows them to grieve over their loss while not worrying about the costs of covering a funeral or end of life care.
Here is everything you need to know when choosing the ideal final expense insurance.
Understand Its Importance
If you don't know why you need final expense insurance, you're likely to overlook its need. Final expense coverage, or burial insurance, is important to families when they're dealing with the loss of a loved one. The cost of burials, funerals, and any other bereavement expenses can be stifling, especially when you're dealing with the emotional turmoil of loss.
While life insurance requires lots of screenings for health conditions and can cost hundreds per month, final expense insurance is much less pricey.
A dedicated final expense policy can help to give the protection that family requires when they're paying the high costs of funerals and burial expenses. Tombstone cutters, funeral directors, and groundskeepers all need to get paid somehow. If you're on a fixed budget or your loved one was, the only way to offset these costs is with burial insurance.
If you haven't looked into this kind of insurance, you're not protecting your family from dealing with funeral costs. Asking your family to pay for those expenses out of pocket can lead to less than ideal burial and funeral conditions. It may lead your family members into debt.
Look for a Good Term Policy
While you're on the hunt for the perfect policy, you need to think about what the term will be of your policy. While they can be issued to extend to the life of your loved one, they can also be based on a set term.
Deciding on a term policy means that you have some idea when the death of a loved one is expected. If they have a terminal illness, doctors lend a basic outline of their remaining life expectancy. Use this to guide you if you decide on a term policy.
If you're currently in good health and just looking to protect your family, you can choose a policy with no term. This policy will last until whatever time you pass and will pay out then. Whole life policies don't expire.
When in search of this type of policy, you typically have to be below a certain age. If you're at an advanced age, a term policy is your only option. Choose wisely so that you get the coverage you need for the length of time you require.
Think About Coverage Types
In order to compare, you need to take a crash course on coverage types. The type of coverage you get will determine what your loved ones can do with the money you leave behind.
Depending on the type of expenses you'll incur on your passing, you need to plan to cover them all. If you've already paid for your burial plot, you don't have to worry about covering that. If you only plan to have a viewing for close family, your expenses decrease.
A large ceremony costs a lot of money. Preparing the body can be costly, as well as the price of limousines and flowers. If these are all part of the ceremony, your expense insurance must meet those needs.
Final expense insurance covers final medical bills. Many people have legal fees for their family to cover. Rather than leaving your family to deal with your finances, final expense insurance leaves them to handle their grief.
When looking into types of final expense insurance, ask about what they offer. Consider what would make your family happy, what they would spend money on, and afford consideration to that.
Amount Matters Considerably
Your amount must meet the needs that you've laid out. If you have a will, use your will to guide how much you should get in final expense insurance. Ask your estate attorney to add it up for you.
Make sure you estimate liberally and leave enough to cover whatever your family will need to give you a dignified end of life.
Factor every element into whatever assessment you make of your finances. An accurate estimate leads to higher coverage needs but this is a necessary calculation.
After completing costs, insurance agents walk you through what will happen next. If they provide the kind of customer service that you demand, you'll leave their office with a sense of clarity.
Be prepared with a copy of your latest medical exam or else prepare to submit to an exam from a doctor that they might choose. There might be flexible packages that don't require you to submit to testing. However, the amount that you pay in order to hit the mark that you require may be connected to health.
If you're looking to provide your family with a generous amount of money for those end of life expenses, expect insurance companies to charge a high fee.
The Best Final Expense Insurance is a Must
If you want to ensure that your family remembers you fondly and doesn't stress out over expenses following your death, you need the best final expense insurance. Choosing this is almost as important as choosing a life insurance policy as those days following your death will be the hardest to get through. If hit with crippling payments, your family might fall apart once you're gone.
If you want to supplement your life insurance policy, check out our guide for finding the ideal policy for your needs.