Planning a funeral is luckily something I haven’t yet had to do in my life. I hope it isn’t one I will have to do for quite some time but unfortunately as family members get older and there aren’t other family around to deal with these things, the reality is I will have to deal with something like this eventually. I’ve been taking a look at some statistics from some research British Seniors undertook. Some of the results are quite shocking but the data is invaluable in learning who is clued up on the realities of planning a funeral in the UK and who isn’t.
Shockingly, a massive 41% of people believe that their existing funds will cover their funeral costs when that isn’t necessarily the case. Only 22% of people have life insurance or funds in place – 44% have to use credit cards to fund funerals, with 27% resorting to payday loans. I know for a fact my own father has over 50 life insurance for such eventualities. But the realities of the facts is quite shocking!
46% of people have nothing in place for when they die whereas just 32% of people have a will should something happen to them. The costs of course differ depending on where you are in the UK but it really is crazy that many people, including me until today, weren’t aware of the costs you incur whilst planning a funeral. Obviously I still only know an estimated price having never planned one myself but my eyes are definitely a little more open.
People are even undecided when it comes to how they want to rest eternally – 20% in fact! 22% wished to be cremated with 55% of respondents wishing to be buried! However, 70% of respondents over 55 wish to be buried which is interesting.
One of the main things I think people need to consider is having some form of funds in place – which is why over 50 life insurance policies like the one that British Seniors recently launched comes in quite handy should anything happen. Sometimes existing funds just aren’t enough and this way those left behind can have peace of mind that they can still say goodbye in peace without incurring massive costs that they probably can’t afford offhand.
I hope that I don’t have to plan a funeral for a long time yet but this research has certainly opened my eyes to plenty of things. It’s never too early to start saving for something as important as this – no one knows what is round the corner for any of us. Even when older, I will certainly make sure that I’ll have some decent life insurance in place so there is less stress financially.
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