The quest to not leave a burden for my children

Editor’s note: here at Starts at 60 we prefer to speak about life and staying active in our 60s, but we accept our bloggers right to write about whatever they like, including funerals.

In 2013, I explored the funeral options and the costs. I do not want my children to have to deal with this. Funeral insurances are costly, and some seem to never end, and then this is not likely to cover costs.

Prepaid funerals also do not secure a fully paid funeral either, and I’ve quickly learnt that funeral plans can be really costly.

The best I could get with a prepaid was $8,000, so I continued researching and eventually found just what I wanted.

What I discovered is a funeral bond, at a Funeral Services business in Townsville.

I made a phone call and made an appointment. What I bought is a fully paid funeral, just the basics, no frills that are what really bump up the prices.

I would rather my kids have dinner together than have money spent on flowers and book of signatures for people to sign. I don’t even want people coming who have not been a part of my life.  I have informed my kids that it will be family and closest friends by invitation.

When my dad passed, there were so many people there that the church could not seat them all. So many of them did not even know he had been seriously ill for any years. I remember thinking, “where were all of these people when my dad was ill?”; he would have welcomed a visit.

Dad’s visitors when he was alive were so few, yet it seemed like so many people come along to “pay their last respects” – what the heck is this anyway? To me, this is a heap of horse feathers.

The funeral home that I was able to make my arrangements with offered me a legally binding document to say that my funeral is fully paid.

The gentleman I had the appointment with was very nice, not pushy at all. So on the day, I made my funeral contract, fully paid, breaks down as follows:

Travel Protection Insurance: $125 – this is optional, and covers bringing my body home if I should die away far from home.

Cremation Fee: $780

Permission to Cremate: $110

Professional Service Fee & Essential Coffin: $928.18

Total: $2,000

Can you believe this? I have not gained permission to give the name of this business, but there are only a few funeral homes in Townsville 4814.

I just thought this information would be helpful to someone else

Have you planned for your funeral? What plan or deal have you paid for? Tell us below.

To write for Starts at 60 and potentially win a $20 voucher, send your articles to our Community Editor here.