Choosing Life insurance for Funeral Expenses: Your Guide
Funeral expenses today are extremely expensive with the median cost being $7,848 according to nfda.org this means life insurance for funeral expenses is a solution to this problem. Making sure your family is not stuck with the funeral costs is crucial.
A life insurance policy between $10,000 – $15,000 should be more than enough life insurance to cover the funeral expenses. This will relieve any financial burden for your family when you die.
Final expense insurance is the perfect type of life insurance coverage that pays a quick death benefit via a lump-sum to family members or beneficiaries to relieve the financial burden of final expenses. It is 100% tax free for them.
Final expense insurance is designed specifically for end of life expenses like burial costs. Term life is not good because it expires, requires full medical exams and is tough to qualify for seniors.
Universal life is whole life but still difficult to qualify for with medical exams for seniors.
Burial insurance is life insurance coverage with a smaller death benefit amount typically between $2,000 – $50,000. It is also simplified issue life insurance which means there is no medical exam required to qualify for the burial insurance.
In this article we will go over using funeral insurance to pay for final expenses, funeral home and other end of life costs.
Table of contents
- Does Life Insurance Pay for Funeral Expenses What Type?
- Best Life Insurance for Funeral Expenses
- How Much Life Insurance Coverage Do I Need?
- Whole Life Insurance for Funeral Expenses
- How Much Will Life Insurance for Burial Cost Me?
- Term Life Insurance for Funeral Expenses
- Can I use My Life Insurance to Pay for My Funeral?
- Do I need a Funeral Plan if I Have Life Insurance?
- Life Insurance Companies We Recommend
- Conclusion
Does Life Insurance Pay for Funeral Expenses What Type?
Yes, final expense insurance does pay for end of life expenses like burial costs billed from the funeral home. In order to get life insurance for funeral expenses you must work with a licensed life insurance agent or broker in your state.
The death benefit amount from burial insurance is paid to your named beneficiary on the policy very quickly after the life insurance company receives a certificate of death.
The full death benefit is paid from the burial insurance policy in the form of a check to the beneficiary.
At that point your beneficiary will deposit the money from your funeral insurance into their bank account and use it to pay whatever amount is on the bill from the funeral home.
This ensures that your family will be able to cover funeral expenses with the life insurance payout.
Keep in mind it is important to calculate how much coverage you should actually purchase to make sure your loved ones can cover funeral expenses incurred by you when you die.
We recommend the following coverage amounts for a funeral insurance policy to make sure you cover final expenses in full.
Any of those amounts for a burial insurance plan should be enough to cover final expenses and other final expenses not accounted for like possible medical bills etc.
Final Expense Life Insurance covers Funeral Expenses
The type of life insurance that covers funeral expenses is final expense life insurance (aka burial insurance and funeral insurance).
It is a simplified issue whole life insurance policy with coverage amounts between $10,000 – $40,000. This type of life insurance is designed to cover funeral expenses and other end of life costs.
Best Life Insurance for Funeral Expenses
Final expense life insurance is the best type of coverage for burial costs. A burial insurance plan is a simplified issue meaning there is no medical exam so if you are in fairly good health you could easily get a policy without a waiting period.
Now when it comes to burial insurance plans they do still check your medical history and prescriptions via the Medical Information Bureau Health report.
That being said we specialize in the underwriting niches for funeral insurance which means even if you have some moderate health conditions like diabetes or even COPD we can still help you get burial insurance and not have to be in a waiting period.
Our agents are highly trained to know which life insurance companies accept consumers with preexisting health conditions to help them get the best life insurance policies with the best life insurance companies.
This means depending on your health you do not have to settle for a graded death benefit plan or guaranteed issue policy that have a 2 year waiting period.
The only thing you have to do with this kind of life insurance plan is answer health questions.
If you can answer no to each health question for burial insurance policies and your prescriptions check out you will be approved within 30 minutes with the burial insurance companies.
This is why a final expense policy is the best life insurance for funeral expenses it provides exactly what you need to protect your family members from debt with a funeral home.
How Much Life Insurance Coverage Do I Need?
As we mentioned before if a burial is $7,848 you are going to need at least $10,000 in life insurance death benefit. This should cover the entire cost of the funeral expenses for your family.
Now if you take inflation into account you should consider $15,000 in life insurance death benefit.
Funerals are expected go up due to inflation being on the rise. This means if you plan on living for another 10 – 20 years consider a higher coverage amount.
Whole Life Insurance for Funeral Expenses
Final expense life insurance is a type of whole life insurance policy designed to serve as burial insurance for seniors on social security that have not set aside any money for their funeral.
Unlike other life insurance products and a traditional whole life policy it has a smaller full death benefit amount typically maxing out at $40,000 but this is also due to how much easier it is to qualify for the coverage.
All a consumer has to do is answer health questions and be in good health and they can get approved without a medical exam or waiting weeks to hear back from a life insurance company.
Whole life insurance is a permanent life insurance policy that does not expire unlike term life insurance which does expire.
Whole life insurance also builds cash value which is a small savings amount in addition to the policies face amount over time.
All types of whole life insurance build cash value but Indexed Universal Life Insurance and Guaranteed Universal Life Insurance both require additional money to be paid with the premium to build high amounts of cash value.
Burial insurance does not require additional money to be paid in to build cash value over time. This is another solid benefit of a burial insurance policy because you can use the cash value while you are still alive to pay for things if you desire to.
How Much Will Life Insurance for Burial Cost Me?
Without knowing your exact age it is hard to give an exact price. Below you will find sample pricing for different final expense life insurance companies. You will see all ages from young adults to seniors over 85.
Age | $10,000 Male Non Smoker | $10,000 Male Smoker | $10,000 Female Non Smoker | $10,000 Female Smoker |
---|---|---|---|---|
19 | $12.87 | $16.59 | $12.03 | $13.74 |
20 | $13.19 | $17.02 | $12.13 | $15.40 |
21 | $13.50 | $17.46 | $12.74 | $17.02 |
22 | $14.17 | $18.18 | $13.06 | $17.05 |
23 | $14.54 | $18.51 | $13.77 | $17.08 |
24 | $15.43 | $19.19 | $15.16 | $17.10 |
25 | $15.95 | $20.00 | $15.28 | $17.39 |
26 | $16.28 | $20.83 | $15.40 | $17.69 |
27 | $16.61 | $21.75 | $15.51 | $17.95 |
28 | $16.92 | $22.15 | $15.61 | $18.22 |
29 | $17.25 | $22.54 | $15.73 | $18.48 |
30 | $17.57 | $23.07 | $16.09 | $19.06 |
31 | $17.97 | $23.60 | $16.45 | $19.66 |
32 | $19.84 | $24.25 | $16.79 | $20.21 |
33 | $20.34 | $25.00 | $17.12 | $20.75 |
34 | $20.93 | $25.83 | $17.45 | $21.28 |
35 | $21.53 | $26.59 | $17.99 | $21.89 |
36 | $22.14 | $27.37 | $18.54 | $22.50 |
37 | $22.84 | $28.18 | $19.06 | $23.08 |
38 | $23.54 | $29.08 | $19.55 | $23.62 |
39 | $24.34 | $29.87 | $20.05 | $24.18 |
40 | $23.13 | $30.66 | $20.70 | $24.98 |
41 | $23.62 | $31.43 | $19.75 | $25.80 |
42 | $24.11 | $32.21 | $19.93 | $26.57 |
43 | $24.64 | $32.93 | $20.10 | $27.30 |
44 | $25.18 | $33.41 | $20.38 | $28.03 |
45 | $25.79 | $34.00 | $20.88 | $28.80 |
46 | $26.43 | $34.57 | $21.43 | $29.55 |
47 | $27.10 | $35.17 | $22.01 | $28.06 |
48 | $27.71 | $35.58 | $22.33 | $28.56 |
49 | $27.35 | $38.27 | $21.78 | $29.22 |
50 | $28.29 | $39.47 | $23.56 | $30.14 |
51 | $29.26 | $40.77 | $24.48 | $31.06 |
52 | $30.31 | $42.22 | $25.09 | $32.72 |
53 | $31.47 | $43.83 | $25.62 | $34.54 |
54 | $32.77 | $45.44 | $26.26 | $38.99 |
55 | $34.25 | $48.12 | $27.11 | $40.85 |
56 | $35.88 | $52.06 | $28.20 | $42.71 |
57 | $37.69 | $54.25 | $29.51 | $42.30 |
58 | $39.64 | $56.72 | $31.70 | $43.61 |
59 | $40.10 | $55.60 | $31.00 | $44.50 |
60 | $41.84 | $56.72 | $31.70 | $43.61 |
61 | $43.76 | $59.64 | $32.87 | $45.19 |
62 | $46.41 | $63.28 | $34.51 | $47.48 |
63 | $49.07 | $67.72 | $36.06 | $49.78 |
64 | $51.22 | $69.53 | $37.72 | $52.07 |
65 | $53.58 | $72.72 | $39.36 | $54.36 |
66 | $56.48 | $76.06 | $41.01 | $56.66 |
67 | $59.85 | $80.53 | $43.44 | $60.22 |
68 | $63.18 | $84.67 | $45.86 | $63.60 |
69 | $66.84 | $89.65 | $48.29 | $66.09 |
70 | $70.79 | $94.64 | $50.81 | $70.45 |
71 | $73.15 | $98.31 | $53.24 | $72.18 |
72 | $78.81 | $103.97 | $56.20 | $75.86 |
73 | $83.99 | $109.94 | $58.46 | $79.74 |
74 | $89.46 | $116.69 | $63.55 | $84.14 |
75 | $94.87 | $123.65 | $67.78 | $88.66 |
76 | $99.97 | $132.48 | $72.41 | $94.42 |
77 | $107.04 | $141.32 | $78.25 | $101.63 |
78 | $114.13 | $150.57 | $83.51 | $108.24 |
79 | $122.13 | $161.81 | $88.44 | $115.15 |
80 | $129.52 | $171.23 | $93.41 | $125.01 |
81 | $139.73 | $181.75 | $98.43 | $135.14 |
82 | $149.95 | $192.98 | $106.21 | $147.04 |
83 | $160.16 | $204.65 | $113.96 | $160.56 |
84 | $171.02 | $219.19 | $121.31 | $170.76 |
85 | $181.88 | $237.28 | $128.55 | $179.58 |
86 | $192.74 | $257.57 | $135.90 | $192.35 |
87 | $236.25 | $337.32 | $171.33 | $237.32 |
88 | $276.68 | $353.99 | $205.98 | $253.99 |
89 | $317.10 | $370.65 | $240.63 | $278.99 |
90 | $357.53 | $378.98 | $275.28 | $303.99 |
Term Life Insurance for Funeral Expenses
We strongly recommend against using term life insurance for funeral expenses. Just get a burial insurance with one of the many life insurance companies in our portfolio.
You can see pricing by filling out the form to your right. There are many reasons we recommend against getting a term life insurance policy for burial expenses.
- They expire
- They require a medical exam and you may not qualify
- They will not insure 80 year olds
- If you get the wrong life policy the premium could increase every 5 yearsJust get final expense insurance it is designed specifically to cover a burial whereas other life insurance policies like Term life insurance and Indexed Universal Life Insurance are designed for mortgage protection, income replacement, and retirement savings.
Can I use My Life Insurance to Pay for My Funeral?
Yes, you can use life insurance as funeral insurance to pay for your funeral. Any life insurance policy with any life insurance company can do this but final expense life insurance is designed for it specifically.
Do I need a Funeral Plan if I Have Life Insurance?
We recommend no matter what type of other plans you have in place to get burial insurance with a life insurance company.
This will make sure that if something happens to your other policies like the term life insurance policy expiring or lapsing you have your burial insurance plan in place for its intended purpose.
Burial insurance policies like any life policy can be coupled together.
You can have multiple life insurance with multiple life insurance companies it does not matter. In addition to this you can stack 1 whole life insurance policy with another for final expense.
This means you can get $80,000 in coverage by maxing out the coverage amounts with 2 different life insurance carriers which can give you a lot of funeral insurance that can be used to leave behind extra money for your family.
Life Insurance Companies We Recommend
These are the best life insurance companies to provide life insurance for funeral expenses. Each one of them has a strong financial rating and reviews.
- Mutual of Omaha
- Transamerica
- American Amicable
- Aetna
- Prosperity Life
- Royal Neighbors of America
- Guarantee Trust Life
- Foresters Financial
- American General AIG
- Gerber Life
- Great Western
Conclusion
Final expense insurance is the best type of coverage to protect anyone from the burden of final expenses. Getting qualified and a locked-in rate now is crucial to making sure your family is protected with no medical exam it is easy to qualify and only takes a few minutes when working with our licensed agents.