Planning a Winter Funeral

November 28th, 2016
Planning a Winter Funeral

Planning a Winter Funeral

Most funeral plans and traditions assume death occurs in an environment that is green, warm, and filled with the blooms of spring. Although just as many deaths occur in the cold winter months, depictions of funerals and cemeteries tend to showcase good weather as the setting for your final farewells. (more…)

How to Budget for a Funeral

November 22nd, 2016
How to Budget for a Funeral

How to Budget for a Funeral

Funeral planning is difficult enough without the strain it puts on your finances. If your loved one did not make pre-plan funeral arrangements or have a life insurance policy to help cover funeral costs, you could be facing a final bill of anywhere from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars—an amount few families can afford out of pocket even under the best of circumstances. (more…)

Money and Funeral Etiquette

November 17th, 2016
Money and Funeral Etiquette

Money and Funeral Etiquette

When a friend or family member passes away, people tend to want to help. This might mean bringing gifts of food, ordering funeral flowers, providing emotional support, hosting out-of-town guests, or even assisting with funeral plans. Depending on how close you are to the family, any and all of these can be appropriate gestures. (more…)

Preparing for the Holidays with a Recent Loss

November 14th, 2016
Preparing for the Holidays with a Recent Loss

Preparing for the Holidays with a Recent Loss

Grief does not end at the funeral, especially if you happen to lose a loved one as the holiday season draws near. There is something about this highly festive time of year that magnifies feelings of loneliness and grief—and if your loss is a recent one, getting through each day can become even more of a struggle. (more…)

Baby Boomers and Funeral Plans

November 11th, 2016
Baby Boomers and Funeral Plans

Baby Boomers and Funeral Plans

There is no mistaking that the Baby Boomer Generation has shaped much of our culture over the past fifty years or so—and that includes funeral planning. With almost 80 million individuals who share the same general values and outlooks, Baby Boomers have directed everything from the political landscape (they hold the most U.S. offices of any other generation right now) to the economy (they are the single largest economic group in the United States). Baby Boomers have more discretionary income than any other age group and are estimated to control 70 percent of the total net worth of American households. (more…)

Funeral Planning for the Future: The Mushroom Death Suit

November 8th, 2016
Funeral Planning for the Future: The Mushroom Death Suit

Funeral Planning for the Future: The Mushroom Death Suit

Finding cost-effective and environmentally-friendly ways to dispose of human remains is one of the biggest challenges of the funeral planning industry today. On the one hand, people want the age-old traditions that bring them comfort; on the other, those age-old traditions are responsible for putting 30 million board feet of wood and enough concrete to build a 535 mile highway into the ground every year. (more…)

Advice on Choosing a Casket

November 4th, 2016
Advice on Choosing a Casket

Advice on Choosing a Casket

Many people find the decision of burial versus cremation to be the easiest decision to make during funeral planning. Most of us already have some idea where we stand on the topic, and we know how our funeral budget will dictate our actions. If you have decided that burial is right for you or a loved one, it is easy funeral planning from there, right? (more…)

Beyond Funeral Planning: Planning for Death

November 1st, 2016
Beyond Funeral Planning: Planning for Death

Beyond Funeral Planning: Planning for Death

Most of the time, talking about advance funeral plans means making financial arrangements for the burial, cremation, or other body interment plan. You can set money aside to cover funeral costs, pay for everything ahead of time, or otherwise pre-plan for the day when you say goodbye to this earthly world. (more…)

Grieving an Online Friend

October 28th, 2016
Grieving an Online Friend

Grieving an Online Friend

In our age of social media, online relationships, and virtual chats, it is possible to make personal connections with people from all over the world. You can make friends, meet potential mates, and find support groups all with the click of a button. Although many people consider these types of relationships to be less “real” than those forged in person, the truth is that the people we interact with online can be just as important to us as those we see every day. (more…)

What You Need to Know About Shipping a Body for Burial

October 25th, 2016
What You Need to Know About Shipping a Body for Burial

What You Need to Know About Shipping a Body for Burial

When a loved one dies in a different country or state, funeral planning takes an unexpectedly difficult turn. Because of health and sanitation issues—and because every country and state has different rules and regulations regarding safe body transport—you may have to wade through quite a bit of paperwork to get everything taken care of. This process is made even more complicated if you aren’t with the body at the time of its transfer. (more…)

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »