What is “Peace of Mind”?

When you see the term pre-planning, usually shortly behind you will see that it “brings peace of mind.” But what exactly does that mean? And what exactly is pre-planning?

Pre-planning, or sometimes called, pre-arranging your funeral simply means sitting down with a Licensed Funeral Director or a Licensed Pre-Need Counselor and putting your final wishes on paper. While it is not required, this sometimes includes pre-paying for the funeral. You can either chose to put your wishes on paper in a simple format or this can be very detailed. The choice is yours to make.

In 2015, a survey was conducted by Funeral And Memorial Information Council and found that 82% of adults over the age of 40 believe that a funeral service of some type helps pay tribute to a friend or a loved one when they pass. In this same survey, 69% indicated they would prefer to prearrange their own service as opposed to having their loved ones handle it at their time of passing; however, only 17% actually did pre-plan for their funeral.

With these statistics, it is known that a service helps pay tribute to the deceased, provides support for those mourning, and allows loved ones to grieve in a healthy form. However, according to the National Funeral Directors Association, in 2016, the U.S. Cremation rate reached 50% for the first time. There are many different driving factors for this increase, but the major leading factor was and still is cost and flexibility for families. Working in a funeral home, we see a rise in “direct cremations” where the family chooses to cremate their loved one with no service being held at all. While this may be the best choice for some families, there are some who choose this merely for cost or the pressure of having to make such important decisions during their early grieving phases.

Pre-planning your service could possibly eliminate a lot of these concerns for you and for your family. Pre-planning brings comfort to you in knowing that your family will not have to make funeral arrangements during the most difficult time of initial grief. Funerals are a time of grieving, not making important decisions.

Pre-planning can also relieve the burden from a financial standpoint if you chose to pre-pay. As previously stated, pre-paying for your service is not mandatory, but it is encouraged if you do not have money set aside to pay for your funeral. Many people do not realize it, but pre-paying can protect you and your loved ones from the chance of inflation as well. Once you have pre-payed, the price for some services and merchandise may now be guaranteed. You can find more information on our website or reach out to one of our License Funeral Director’s to find out more information as well as the details of prepayment.

Death is a topic most chose to tiptoe around and not discuss. It is much like an open secret everyone knows, but that no-one wants to talk about. Avoiding the topic neither rushes nor delays the inevitable. It is beyond our control and we can choose to either face the expected prepared or unprepared. If you are ready to speak to someone about pre-planning, we are readily available to sit and discuss this with you as comprehensive as you would like and remember that by doing so, you will bring peace of mind to you and to your family. And, that is the best gift you could leave them.

~ Sarah Driskell