WHAT IS FINAL EXPENSE INSURANCE?
Final expense insurance can save your loved ones a lot of money and stress at the time of your death. With the high cost of funerals, the last thing anyone wants to think about after they lose a loved one is paying for and planning final arrangements. Final expense insurance can help ease that burden by paying for many of the costs associated with funerals. In this article, you’ll learn how final expense insurance is different from traditional life insurance, who can buy it and how much you should buy.
FINAL EXPENSE INSURANCE VS. LIFE INSURANCE
Unlike the high face value most regular life insurance policies contain, final expense insurance is written with a much lower face value and is intended solely to take care of the cost of a person’s final arrangements. A regular life insurance policy ranges from $250,000 to $1,000,000, while a final expense policy is typically purchased for $5,000 to $50,000.
WHO CAN BUY IT?
Anyone can buy final expense insurance. Most often, however, it is purchased by those who do not already have a regular life insurance policy in place. Many final expense insurance policies can be underwritten without the designated insured submitting to a medical exam. These no-exam policies contain higher rates for the insurance but are still less expensive to buy than regular life insurance because of the low face value of the policy.
HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU BUY?
It’s a good idea to discuss with your loved ones, or whoever will be your policy’s beneficiary, your wishes for the type of funeral you would like to have. If you are helping someone else who is near death buy a final expense insurance policy, you may want to consult with a funeral home about the type of final arrangements you’d like to make for them. The funeral director should be able to give you an idea of the funeral’s cost including the funeral service, flowers, catering, a casket, a burial plot and headstone and any paid funeral procession arrangements such as police escorts. In general, funeral costs can range from $1,000 to $10,000 or more.
No one likes to think about what will happen after they are gone, but don’t forget about the people who will be left behind and will need to take care of your final arrangements. If you don’t already have a regular life insurance policy, buying a final expense insurance policy is a good alternative that will help your loved ones pay for your funeral costs. To get started, compare your options between final expense insurance and life insurance, decide if you’d like to submit to a medical exam or not and determine how much final expense insurance you should buy.
