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Resource Management

Tip:
Financial experts suggest the rule of six: Put away 6 months of living expenses for emergencies; save at least 6 - 10 % of your gross income to meet long-term goals.

Finding an Affordable Final Resting Place

It's not always a smooth path to a final resting place and sometimes it can be an expensive journey. Consumers would do well to become informed and to be aware of the growing "cemetery trap."

A loved one's death is not a good time to make hurried decisions about funeral arrangements, especially when the wishes of the deceased are not known. And when you encounter unscrupulous marketing tactics, it adds to the sadness.

Marketing abuses exist because the business of burying the dead in cemeteries is not regulated by the federal government and only by a few states. Pennsylvania has no direct consumer protection regarding burials. A special report published in the May/June 2000 issue of Consumer Digest magazine says consumers in states like Pennsylvania can complain to the state attorney general but usually redress occurs only if money was stolen by a cemetery association.

Consumer complaints occur when:

Cemeteries change from non-profit to for-profit entities and prices increase dramatically.
There's a prevalence of marketing tactics used to induce consumers to upgrade items from a simple burial plot to a crypt, mausoleum or vault; to install expensive markers and memorials; and to select costly urns and columbarium placements for cremated remains, etc.
Marketers advertise free burial plots" when hidden costs, usually revealed following burials, involve expensive grave liners, opening and closing costs, etc.
Complete price disclosures for after-funeral costs are not forthcoming.
A cemetery association levies added burial costs of opening and closing a grave, even if a family bought burial plots years ago.

Burial costs have risen 300 percent to 500 percent in recent years, according to Consumer Digest. In the March/April issue of Modern Maturity magazine author Ken Budd of "How to Really Rest in Peace," advises:

Tell your family your burial wishes or include them in a letter to your survivors, but don't put it in your will.
Investigate thoroughly to "pay in advance for funeral arrangements," don't sign an irrevocable contract.
Show all cemetery contracts to your lawyer.
Choose affordable arrangements. Comparison shop; prices vary widely. When you visit a funeral home take a non-grieving friend who can be objective about prices.
Ask to see a price list to check actual costs.
Inquire about direct burial or cremation. Without embalming, this averages a savings of between $500 and $900. Cremation usually costs one-third less than burial. And it is not necessary to buy the urn.
Refuse to pay outrageous prices.

Resource: Look for burial alternatives from a memorial society in your area by going to the Funeral and Memorial Society Association's web site.

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This page last updated Tuesday, July 7, 2009

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