They say things happen for a reason!

….but, in this case, I'm still searching for the reason why another close friend of mine has passed…..and way, waaaaaayyyyy….tooooo soon at that!

He was just 59 years old!

What could possibly be worse than dying prematurely?

Just when we, his closest friends, thought that the circumstance couldn't possibly get any worse for his family and loved ones, the news surfaced that my friend passed without the benefit of Life Insurance - essential insurance that would have helped insulate his family from the burden of his funeral and burial expenses.

And so, out of sensitivity for the family, I have decided to withhold my good friend's name. But the severity of this situation demands that we all face the tragedy of these circumstances, assume our responsibility and take positive action to prevent something similar to this from happening to our loved ones.

My friend was loved and respected by all who knew him. He was a kind and gentile sole with an incredibly brilliant mind. He possessed dogged determination and a tireless work ethic, my friend demonstrated an astonishing ability to repair anything.

But in the end, he became another tragic victim of circumstances beyond his control. For this man, who earned his living repairing things for others, simply became another statistic of this countries' broken health care system and our inability as a society to cope with the social responsibilities inherent in an aging population.

So, here's my attempt to put a positive spin on a very sad situation.

According to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), funerals and burials are among the most expensive purchases older Americans make. The average cost for an adult funeral ranges from $4,500 to $5,500. About one-third of that goes to the cost of the casket alone. What's more, an in-ground burial can add another $2,400 to the total.

With funeral prices continuing their upward trend, a $10,000 burial policy purchased today might not cover a funeral's bill when the time comes.

So, we all should now have or immediately go out and purchase some form of supplemental insurance to cover our funeral and burial expenses.

Everyone knows that the fact of life is death. And, unlike some other types of insurance, burial insurance is less a "what if" financial strategy and more a question of "when."

There are any number of supplemental insurance options and financial strategies available these days to those who of us who accept our responsibility and plan ahead for the inevitable.

Although I am most definitely not qualified to advise anyone on how to proceed with this matter, what I can do is provide some useful information that I hope will leave you more prepared to make informed decisions when planning for life's most unpleasant of events.

Pre Purchase Funeral products and services

· A casket or urn

· Cremation

· Embalming (not legally required unless there will be a public viewing)

· Burial vault or grave liner

· Grave marker

· Hearse and other funeral vehicles

· Flowers

· Digging and filling the grave

· The plot

Burial Insurance:

"Burial insurance" usually refers to a whole life insurance policy with a death benefit of from $5,000 to $25,000. As its nickname implies, people buy this type of policy to provide money for funeral and burial costs for themselves and/or family members. It is possible to buy a policy after answering a few health-related questions on the application and with no medical exam.

Premiums are payable weekly or monthly. The premium is usually a small round number, such as $2 or $3 per week; the death benefit is whatever that premium will buy given the insured's current age. For example, a $3 per week premium might buy a $6,000 death benefit for a 36-year-old man or an $18,000 death benefit for a 9-year-old boy.

Burial policies may be designed to cover one person or everyone in a family.

Under some state laws, funeral homes may be licensed to sell burial insurance, but it is mainly sold through brokers and agents of insurance companies licensed to sell life insurance.

An approach that is similar to burial life insurance (and sometimes called burial or "pre-need" insurance) is pre-payment of your funeral arrangements. Under this program, you may select the funeral home, type of service, casket (or cremation), flowers, headstone, burial plot, the cost of digging and filling the grave, and other items, and lock in the prices for them by paying in advance.

A checklist for buying burial insurance

· Make sure you find out your state's laws on pre-need insurance before you purchase this type of coverage.

· Before buying a burial policy, discuss your options with your family and lawyer to make sure it is consistent with your will and estate planning.

· Determine how much of the plan value you will actually receive in death benefits.

· Verify the license of the agent, funeral director or company before doing business.

· Take advantage of any "free look" laws your state might have to review your policy before you are locked in.

· The Federal Trade Commission requires funeral homes to give you a written price list of available goods and services.

· Funeral directors may choose not to provide price guarantees, which means the money you pay today for a funeral might not actually be enough to cover the costs later since you haven't locked in the prices.

· Have a companion on hand to help you sort through the paperwork or to help you shop for a casket or other products.

· Do not accept any documents that have not been completely filled in and signed in your presence.

· Make sure the funeral arrangements can be moved to any funeral home at any time (in case you move, for instance).

· Find out if your state requires that the money you pay to funeral directors for pre-need funerals be made available to you upon request at any time.

· The location of the gravesite should be spelled out by section, row and plot number.

· The policy should specify what type of outer burial container you have purchased (e.g., grave liner vs. a vault, and what it's made of).

· The policy should specify what kind of marker you have purchased, including size, material, and style, preferably with a sketch.

· Find out if opening, closing and marker-installation costs are included (the costs of digging and filling a grave aren't generally included in the cost of the plot).

· Find out if there are extra fees if you buy a marker from a monument dealer instead of the cemetery. And what about buying a casket from your own supplier?

· Find out what happens if the cemetery ownership changes hands.

· Know what recourse you have if the cemetery runs out of money and defaults on your arrangement.

· Ask what happens if your chosen cemetery runs out of burial space.

· Survey your desired cemetery to see how well the upkeep is, particularly after a snowstorm.

· Look at the contingencies if the items you have selected will no longer available at the time of the funeral.

· Make sure you receive your funeral policy in a timely manner.

· Make sure you receive at least one statement each year detailing the status of your account.

· Know what happens if you decide to cancel your policy. You may be refunded for products and services, but be stuck with the plot.

The AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, maintains information about the subject of funeral planning online at: http://www.aarp.org/family/lifeafterloss/articles/funeralplanning.html

PostScript

I purposely penned this week's "tip" earlier in the week, before my friend's funeral to avoid having to relive the events of his passing so soon after his death. But here I sit at my computer, the day after his funeral…adding this troubling postscript….

….because the events that transpired on the day of his funeral were so disturbing to me …..and from my point of view….. they became a very sad commentary on our American society today.

To be more specific, the funeral procession from the church to the grave deteriorated into an absolute disaster.

From the moment the hearse pulled away from the church, the drive became increasingly more dangerous.

Why? -- because….

· most law enforcement agencies don't escort funeral processions anymore because they determined that the practice was just too expensive and time-consuming.

and what's even more unfortunate is American's attitude ….

· Many people in our society exhibit little tolerance of and even less respect for this longstanding ritual of a funeral procession.

It seems that we're all in a hurry or we're just too busy to stop and take a moment out of our daily lives to honor another's passing.

Collectively we Americans have become increasingly self-indulgent, self-important and increasingly unwilling to display any respect or tolerate the momentary convenience of being held up in traffic by a funeral procession.

And …….even though every other car in our funeral procession had a flag on the hood and all the vehicles in our procession had their lights on (some even turned on their emergency flashers) cars were dangerously weaving in and out of our ranks -- completely willing to risk accident and/or injury just to get where they were going a few seconds or minutes early.

Incredibly, these drivers were readily willing to risk their lives, and ours, rather than to exhibit patience and simply wait for our funeral procession to pass.

Yes, that's very sad indeed!

Until next week!