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Seniors Plan For Burial Expense with Final Expense

By Marilyn Katz

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 11Jun2009 Word count: 560 Viewed: 259 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

If you are a retired person, or if you are younger, but caring for an elderly senior citizen, you have probably been approached about a product called burial insurance. This is also called final expense.

What is it? Well, it is very simply a form of whole life insurance policy that has been designed to help people plan for the cost of a funeral. In the US, funerals can cost $8,000 - $10,000 or more. Many families are not prepared for this expense, and it can be an added stress in a very unpleansant time in their lives. Nobody needs to add the worry about coming up with thousands of dollars when they are already sad because they have lost a love one.

How Can We Plan For Funerals?

Nobody likes to think about a loved one passing away. And yet, many seniors, or children of those older people, are happy they did some advance planning. One way to do this is to buy a seniors final expense policy.

These polies are whole life insurance policies with smaller face values. The amounts usually range from a few thousand to a few tens of thousands. Major life insurers have designed these policies with seniors in mind, so older people who may not qualify for other types of coverage, can be accepted for a senior policy without a lot of trouble.

They come in two forms - guaranteed and simplified issue. And they usually do not require a medical exam in order to apply.

Simplified issue policies ask a few health questions, but will accept most seniors who are not terminally ill or living in a nursing home. These usually have an immediate death benefit, and the premiums should be affordable for many families.

Guranteed issue policies do not ask any health questions. But they use a waiting period instead of health underwriting, and so the death benefit will not be paid out unless the insured person survives for a set period of time. If the applicant passes away before that time has passed, premiums may be returned with interest, or a portion of the death benefit may be paid. Policies differ, and it is important to understand how they work before you buy!

So, try to get a simplified issue plan if you can qualify, but otherwise, a guaranteed issue plan may be a good alternative. If it returns the premiums, with interest, if the insured person passes away before the waiting period is up the family really has not taken a big risk, though it would be better to get the whole face amount.

Most plans start accepting applicants at age 50. The younger and healthier an applicant is, the better chance they will have to qualify for better rates! I have seen plans that accept applicants up to age 85, but those applicants must be in reasonably good health.

Is a burial insurance policy right for you?

If you are a senior, or the caretaker of an elderly person, you may consider buying a final expense policy. If you are concerned about coming up with the cash to pay for a funeral and related expenses, this is one way to plan for that. Again, it is a lot easier to find a policy for a younger senior in decent health, than to try and find a policy when the applicant is already ill.

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