Death isn’t something you want to think about, especially when you’re just starting out in life, but here’s the reality: when you die, it could cause financial and emotional havoc to those you leave behind. And the younger you are when it happens, the bigger the blow to your loved ones.
Organizing a funeral is emotional
Whether it comes early or late in life, whether it’s expected or not, losing a spouse is devastating. Add the injustice of a premature loss to the equation, as well as the responsibilities of caring for young children while having to handle funeral logistics, and that heavy emotional burden increases tenfold.
With a Funeral Insurance Policy (payment plans make these very affordable – more on that later), you can organize every detail of your funeral yourself and ensure that the funds are there to cover it when the time comes. In doing so, you’ll be alleviating your spouse of emotionally wrought decision-making and affording them the time and space to process their loss and the impact it will have on your family.
Losing a spouse when you have young children in the home presents unique challenges. You don’t get to shut down and grieve; you need to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Your kids still need to be bathed and fed. They still need to get to school. All of their daily needs still need to be met. And with one parent gone, they count on the strength of the remaining parent to keep up the routine that’s so essential to their security. Considering all of the above, wouldn’t you want to minimize your partner’s emotional burden?
Funeral costs are also great cause for stress
That’s another reason end of life planning is especially valuable to young families. The younger you are, the less financial buffer you’re likely to have stashed away, and the more impact an unplanned expense will have on the family members who remain.
Furthermore, assuming you’ve been bringing income into the home, your spouse will suddenly find themselves under great financial pressure. If you don’t have substantial life insurance in place, your spouse will likely be faced with some very tough short- and long-term financial decisions. If you do have insurance in place, they may not have long-term financial concerns, but processing claims can take a while. How will they manage in the short-term?
In this context, having to outlay money for a funeral – which can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand – could end up being the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Even if you’re not ready to think about the type of funeral you would like, consider our Final Expense Solutions. This will allow you to get some very general thoughts down in writing and put the financial means in place for your spouse.
The sooner you put a funeral plan in place, the lower your premiums will be
The value of a preneed policy is based on the products and services you choose for your funeral. The value of a final expense policy is based on estimated costs. Regardless of which you choose, creating a plan at this stage in your life makes it a more affordable proposition as payment terms are determined by how old you are when the policy is issued.
While some choose to pay for such policies upfront, TruStage allows you to make monthly, quarterly or annual payments for 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20 years. The younger you are, the more years you’ll have to pay for your policy, and the smaller your payments will be – a definite plus for low income earners, or those who haven’t yet reached their peak earning potential, which is typically the case for young couples.
So there you have it. While you hopefully have many healthy, happy decades ahead of you, there’s no predicting the future. Planning for end of life makes as much sense as planning for retirement. If you’d like to explore your options further, feel free to contact us. We’re happy to share our experience and expertise with you, without obligation.