Everything You Need to Know About Funeral Insurance

The Average Cost of a Funeral is Approximately $10,000 (AARP.org)

End of Life Family Protection is:

√ Easy to Qualify and Very Inexpensive
√ A Selfless Gift to Show How Much You Care
√ Helps Make a Difficult Situation a Little Easier

10 Important Things to Know About
Funeral or Burial Insurance:

1.) NO medical exam required
2.) Premiums NEVER increase
3.) Accumulates CASH value
4.) Insurance NEVER decreases
5.) EASY to obtain up to age 80
6.) Protection is GUARANTEED
7.) Prepays ALL funeral costs
8.) Prepay any expenses or debts
9.) Your beneficiary can ALWAYS be changed
10.) QUICK coverage ranges from $2,500 to $50,000

Additional Helpful Resources:

3 Most Common Ways to Plan a Funeral

How to Prepay Funeral Expenses

Key Burial Insurance Details

Top 10 End of Life Plan Benefits

Woodstock, VA – The beginning of a New Year is always special for those who have lost loved ones, as well as the funeral and cemetery industries.  However, 2012 is going to be particularly special because families can now take advantage of some of today’s new and innovative memorial technology and memorial services options.

Christopher P. Hill, Founder of FuneralResources.com, recalls “When my family and I lost my mother on Thanksgiving Day, we never knew these new memorial options existed.  I can assure you we would have used at least three of these memorial tools.”

Hill’s personal loss inspired him to create www.memorialtechnology.com, a new educational website which simply makes it easier for families and Funeral Directors to raise awareness, education, and access to these new ways to better heal and remember.

MemorialTechnology.com particularly helps the funeral and cemetery industry by offering Funeral and Cemetery Directors a quick and easy way to educate every family on excellent additions to their funeral and memorial services planning.

Top Six New Funeral and Memorial Technology Options

MemorialTechnology.com contains six options that studies show most families are choosing to add to their funeral, memorial, or cremation planning:

1. New Gravestone Technology – Amazing way to see much more than a name and date
2. Video Tribute – A very powerful combination of video, pictures, and funeral music
3. Funeral Webcasting – Allows families to “attend” a memorial service “live” online
4. Memorial Diamond – Customized Genuine Diamonds for family heirlooms
5. Memorial Reefs – Green Burials at sea offer an underwater living legacy
6. Memorial Website – Personalized websites so families can share together anywhere

View This Brief Video Which Explains Today’s New Memorial Technology Options:

Click here to view the embedded video.

As we approach the New Year, Hill stated; “You will see that MemorialTechnology.com provides a true win-win situation.  For the Funeral and Cemetery Directors, they can now offer even more valuable services.  For the families, the can learn and maybe take advantage of ways to enhance and improved a loved one’s life tribute. I hope my mother is proud to know she inspired such a wonderful opportunity.”

FuneralResources.com is the funeral industry’s leading online Resource Center for both families and Funeral Directors.  This comprehensive website offers easy access to help regarding how to plan a funeral, memorial services, and end of life plan services.

For more information or media contact, you can reach Chris Hill at (540) 459-7676, or by email at info@memorialtechnology.com.

What Happens Online When You Die?

While it’s a scary thought, the thought usually passes quickly, possibly accompanied with a new status update and a quick image change. However, there are a lot of people who have given the issue of digital death a lot more thought.  This is particularly true given today’s new and innovative funeral and memorial services technology options.

Leading technologists around the world are grappling with the possibilities of what will happen to our online selves when we die. Currently there are no uniform policies across social media and online profiling sites regarding what happens when one of their users dies. As a result this raises questions about:

Privacy. Do you want anyone else accessing your Facebook or Twitter profiles and going through your emails after you’ve died? What about digital assets which are jointly held?

Access. Are you leaving behind the login details and passwords needed for a friend or family member to deactivate your accounts? Should the sites themselves automatically grant access to a deceased profile if a family member wants to close the account?

Legacy. Do you want your online self to remain ‘live’ as a legacy? Do you want friends and family to continue posting in your name? How do you want to preserve your digital estate planning online interactions, and how will that data stay relevant as file formats and technology change and develop?

Digital Death Day

While there may not be a holistic approach to what happens online when you die, there are a number of unique initiatives raising awareness and trialling new ideas and systems to make digital death easier to manage. For example, when the Digital Death Day conferences were held in North America in May 2011 this was the third time that attorneys, entrepreneurs, funeral directors, estate planners, researchers, archivists and leading thinkers gathered to have the conversation about the issues of family, privacy, digital property rights and the archiving and curating of data for anthropologists and future generations.

Digital Death Day calls itself an ‘unconference’ where all of the attendees work closely together to explore options for dealing with online profiles after death. Everyone is able to contribute and the first morning is spent creating a multi-track agenda from the feedback of all attendees, which makes for vibrant and relevant content. Digital Death Day explores the fact that while death is a part of life, what does that mean when most people’s end of life planning become largely digital?

Digital Death Resources

The conversation about what happens online when you die is of course taking place online too with blogs such as Death and Digital Legacy http://www.deathanddigitallegacy.com/which covers topics such as how to download data from a deceased Facebook profile, how to make sure your online storage of posts, photos and files are really preserved electronically and whether you’d want your family to notify your friends of your death using your own Facebook profile.

John Romano and Evan Carroll have even written a book called Your Digital Afterlife http://www.yourdigitalafterlife.com/ which compares the legacy of photo albums, diaries and video tapes left behind by our grandparents, to the plethora of thoughts, feelings, images and memories we leave behind online. Your Digital Afterlife also discusses the issues surrounding passwords and who really owns your online content, as well as how that content can be preserved as file formats change.

Adam Ostrow takes the preservation of our online selves a step further in his speech at a TED conference http://www.thedigitalbeyond.com/2011/08/digital-legacy-presented-at-ted-global-2011/. Ostrow’s speech titled After Your Final Status Update asks whether we could, or should, be putting our online profiles in the hands of evolving technology in order to live on – there are already programs which can predict your next tweet based on your past posts, so why not upload the collective of your online interactions into a robot, or project your personality as a hologram to go on interacting with your family and friends after you die?

Digital Death Used to Save Lives

The conversation around digital death is also being used to stop unnecessary deaths from HIV and AIDS in Africa and India. The Digital Death Campaign to Keep a Child Alive http://buylife.org/about.php began on World AIDS Day, 1 December, with the world’s most followed celebrities sacrificing their digital selves. This means that the celebrities’ Facebook and Twitter profiles go silent until a donation of $1,000,000 is reached to bring their online selves back to life. Plus, you can sacrifice your own digital life and encourage your friends and family to donate to the Keep a Child Alive campaign, and bring you back to life online.

Three Facebook Users Die Every Minute

At this rate that means that there will be 1.78 million Facebook accounts in limbo in 2011 because those users hadn’t prepared for their digital death. That’s the equivalent of the population of Western Australia, and as users and status updates continue to grow exponentially, how many deceased pages will there be in 10 years, how will Facebook and the probably non-tech savvy families of these people manage this amount of digital content?

In 2011 there are over 500 million people on Facebook and that number is expected to double by the end of the year to 1 billion users. As you think about those numbers, consider the fact that around 1 billion pieces of information are shared on Facebook every day. That is a staggering amount of information that we all felt compelled to share, so if it was important enough to post, isn’t it important enough to preserve?

However, despite digital content growing so rapidly, there are no plans for a way to manage, archive and remove our digital content when we die. For example, if you die and your friends or family want to close down your Facebook account they have to fill out a form and provide a link to your obituary search. If a copy of a key vital statistics such as a Death Certificate is sent to MySpace or eBay the account will be closed however, closing one of the 20 million eHarmony accounts can only be done by using a Last Will, Living Trust, and power of attorney who even then can’t gain access to the account.

There are 100 million tweets being posted each day from the 175 million users, and Twitter will allow a family member to save a copy of your tweets if you die, but no one else will be given access to your account.

Leave a Digital Legacy?  Or Have Your Digital Self Euthanized?

While you are alive you have absolute control over your online profiles and this is one of the main attractions of the medium – the fact that you can share your thoughts, your feelings, your questions and your experiences freely, with whomever you choose. As a result you are creating a rich database of yourself and your life experiences and isn’t that exactly why we put photos in photo albums, create a video tribute, keep diaries, have children and grow businesses – so we can leave something behind to be remembered by? So would you want to live on through your online self or would you rather leave the physical and the digital plane all together?

Digital Privacy

While most social media and online accounts have a policy to dictate what happens to your account when you die, there is still an overarching policy to protect your privacy when you are gone. For example, do you want your parents reading your Facebook status updates or do you want your partner reading through your private emails? Take a second to think about the contents of your inbox or the photos on your Facebook page – what digital dirty laundry would you be leaving behind if you died? However, it’s not only your own privacy that you should be protecting when you die, consider what would happen to the private messages stored in your Facebook or Twitter accounts, or emails which contain private information about friends, family, clients or colleagues. When you die, once private information is no longer bound by the terms and conditions of your friendship, but by the terms and conditions of your email provider or social network.

The various deceased policies of social media sites you may use include:

Twitter. Family and friends can notify Twitter of your death and your account will be removed. Family members can also save a backup of all of your public tweets. Twitter simply needs the name and contact details of the family or friend deactivating the deceased account and their relationship to the deceased, the username of the deceased Twitter account or a link to the profile page, and a link to a public obituary or news article. Twitter has the specific privacy@twitter.com email address for this process.

Facebook. Facebook has a feature where you can download all of your photos, videos, wall posts, notes, messages, events and friends which can be great for your records, as well as help your family manage your account after your death. Your family will need to know your username and password to access your account and archive the information and deactivate your account. However, even when a Facebook account has been deactivated, Facebook itself retains a copy of all information and there is currently no way to permanently delete a profile. Or family or friends can also complete a form and provide a link to an obituary to confirm your death and your profile will be officially memorialized. This means you won’t show up in Facebook suggestions and status updates won’t show up in the news feeds but your profile will remain as an online memorial technology.

MySpace. If MySpace are sent proof of death they will cancel a deceased user’s account.

LinkedIn. LinkedIn will also close your account if they receive confirmation of your death.

YouTube. YouTube allows your heir or power of attorney control of your account and all of the content.

Google + and Gmail. Google will provide account information to family members at their discretion.

Yahoo and Flickr. Yahoo owns Flickr and as a result both sites have a strict digital death policy, that once they receive a copy of your death certificate they will permanently delete all of your accounts and their contents so that no one but you can access them.

Hotmail. Hotmail will send a copy of all email messages which are stored on the account and the current contacts list to help your family notify your contacts of your death. Hotmail will then close the account on request.

eBay. Your family will need to fax a copy of your death certificate to eBay to close an account and all customer details are then deleted from the eBay database. eBay may also need to call to verify the account information.

PayPal. PayPal will need to view a death certificate before closing an account, and if there is money in the account a cheque will be issued in the name of the account holder.

Match.com. Match.com will block the account of a user who has died so that it is no longer visible on the site and your power of attorney will need to contact Match.com to retrieve account information.

eHarmony.com. Your eHarmony account will remain open until a family member or power of attorney contacts the site. Even then no third party will be allowed to access your account and eHarmony will close the account.

To learn or read more about this topic, you can click here.

What to Put on a Grave Headstone, Monuments,

Grave Marker, or Personalized Memorial?

Losing a loved one is hard.  Honoring that loved one after they are gone can be just as hard.  The first step is choosing what to say on the memorial for a grave headstone, grave marker, or any other type of monuments.

What Do You Want to Say About Your Loved One?

You could mention their time served in the military or their relationships to the family.  You could incorporate some of their favorite hobbies or passions.  Over the years we’ve seen a lot of memorable quotes and sayings.

Here are just a few that you might use as inspiration:

“An officer and gentleman, he touched the lives of many with a hug, a smile, humor, and a generous spirit. Rest, my dear father, in God’s loving embrace.” ~ Donna Shackelford Jones

“Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you there.” ~ Isla Paschal Richardson

“What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” ~ Helen Keller

When choosing a saying, you might ask yourself, would your loved one like this and does it reflect their impact on the world?

What are Your Options When Designing a Memorial?

Once the text is chosen, you’ll need to consider the design.  There are numerous options for engraving and designing a custom headstone or marker.  Elements like font size and color greatly impact the design of the memorial.  If you’re working with a custom headstone designer, you’ll want to defer to them for the best font choice.  Your designer will also be able to determine the best layout so everything is easy to read and well balanced.

There are also other options when choosing a custom headstone or memorial.  For instance, do you want to have a vase, religious symbol, or even a picture on the monument?  These questions should be brought up with your funeral director and cemetery coordinator.  To keep track of these answers you might want to download the Cemetery Regulations Checklist, put together by Quiring Monuments.

Remember to keep in mind the purpose of the memorial, whether it’s a grave headstone, grave marker, cremation memorial, or any other type of personalized monuments, it should represent your lost loved one and be a place for the family to remember them fondly.

Estate and Inheritance Tax Questions to Ask

After Grieving the Loss of a Loved One

When suffering from the grief and loss of a loved one, it can be the most painful and stressful time in our life. It’s important to surround our selves with close family or friends as a support system.

The experience is one that can seem like time is standing still because of the grief, but at same the time, it can be quite overwhelming and as if time were flying right past us. When someone we love passes away, there are so many details that need to be considered while grieving. That process in-and-of-itself can be painful. Funeral arrangements, memorial services, obtaining death certificates, and legal matters are all part of the details involved in losing a loved one.

Things like inheritance and estate tax issues don’t need to be addressed immediately. Focusing on our friends and family are obviously more important. But eventually the details will need our attention.

Helpful Considerations When Facing a Loss:

Is Life Insurance Taxable?

While life insurance proceeds are included in the estate, they are not taxable (as income) to beneficiaries. However, you should contact the life insurance company to understand the procedure to cashing in their policy. Typically insurance companies will require a claim form and death certificate. But generally, life insurance is not taxable to inheritors. (Click to learn more about burial insurance)

What is My Inheritance Tax Rate?

Inheritance tax will vary from state-to-state. Typically if the value of the estate that’s being inherited is high in value, your tax rate will be higher as well.

For example, tax preparers in Indianapolis, Indiana will tell you that Indiana’s inheritance tax system breaks the heirs or inheritors into three classes or groups. Systems in Pennsylvania are very different. For Indiana, each group has different rate schedules and exemptions. Here’s how this looks according to the Indiana Department of Revenue:

•  Class A – direct ancestor or descendant, stepchildren, direct descendant of a stepchild: $100,000 exemption.
•  Class B – siblings, descendants of sibling, spouse, widow or widower of your child: $500 exemption
•  Class C – anyone else excluding spouse: $100 exemption

Are Bank Accounts Taxable?

Revenue-producing assets like bank accounts and stacks are not taxable upon inheriting them. However, the income that these assets generate is taxable to the recipient.

What About Pensions and IRA’s

A person inheriting a pension or IRA is required to pay taxes on the amount received, as the decedent (person who is deceased) would have during their life. An IRA or similar fund can be rolled over tax-free into the beneficiary’s name and treat it as their own.

While things like estate and inheritance tax is, by no means, the most important item to address when we suffer the loss of a loved one, it is important to understand what is and is not taxable during these times. Estate and inheritance taxes can be burdensome and stressful, but in some cases, an inheritance is not taxable to you.

Estate lawyers are available to help guide us during times of funeral estate planning, but they can often be costly. Check with your tax preparer or attorney handling the estate as to what you need to know when sorting out inheritance and estate issues.

DVD tribute videos are becoming a popular way to memorialize a loved one who has passed. Client families want to include a video tribute as part of the funeral or memorial service. They also wish to have these memorial tributes created so that they can watch them after the services are over as they work through their grief.

Client families are seeking out companies via the internet or are attempting to create these tribute videos themselves. Often their funeral professional has not made the service available to them. If your funeral home is not currently offering DVD tribute videos, here are four compelling reasons to rethink that choice:

1. Tribute Videos Fill a Need

Tribute videos help a client family tell the story of their loved ones life and relive cherished memories. They allow families to leave a legacy and connect generations by preserving memories and events. More and more client families are tech savvy and have seen tribute videos online or at a funeral service. While many would like to have a DVD tribute video created for their loved one, and may know how to make one themselves, during this stressful time they need someone to take the reins, relieve the burden and offer the service. Providing a world class professional tribute, one that far exceeds the quality of a homemade version, will ingrain you and your funeral home in their lives each and every time they watch the DVD tribute video.

2. Tribute Videos Are Easy to Create

Outsourcing a tribute video can be a nightmare to coordinate and to find a trustworthy company that won’t let you down. Thankfully, in-house funeral software has come a long way. Tribute video software has been developed that allows a funeral professional to create a professional, high quality tribute video in-house in just three simple steps. You simply import the photos, edit the copy, music and motion effects, and burn the completed video to a DVD. The menu driven application guides you through the entire process. In minutes you’ll have created a stunning tribute video that will amaze the families you serve. Plus, the online tribute player allows you to upload your video to the web and link it to your website. Client families can direct friends and families to your website to view the tribute video.

3. Tribute Video Software Features Cutting Edge Memorial Technology

The quality of a DVD tribute video created in-house by a funeral professional utilizing today’s robust funeral software is unmatched. With the invention of high speed scanning technology, funeral professionals can now scan one photo every two seconds making the creation process a breeze. At the click of a button, innovative tribute video software can also bring life to each photo with motion effects, set transitions, sync funeral music, and create a stunning DVD menu. Every day, thousands of funeral home professionals rely on tribute video funeral software because of the state-of-the art memorial technology it provides and the results it delivers.

4. Tribute Videos Are a Value Added Service

Tribute video software has been designed specifically for the funeral industry.  Because of this, for funeral professionals, creating an in-house tribute video is simple and affordable. Tribute video software available today has no long term contracts, no upfront costs, no equipment to buy and no support fees required. With a simple pay as you go system, you can create an unlimited number of professional quality video tributes in house quickly and easily. The quality is competitive with professional video tribute services, yet costs you and the family a fraction of the price. And, the value added service you are providing is priceless.

This article was contributed by Frazer Consultants.  This company has a solid reputation of developing high performing and reliable technology for the death care industry.

Afterward…

Dividing Your Loved One’s Estate

A Guest Blogger Shares His Personal Story:

When my grandmother passed away, my mother was named as executor of her funeral estate planning and was left with a house full of memories and possessions to distribute. After she and her siblings divided those belongings that they wanted, there were still many items left. My mother didn’t feel right selling these things, so she donated everything, in order to help others in need.

Clothing and Shoes

Clothing items can be donated to second-hand stores, homeless shelters, or battered women’s shelters. There are often used clothing drives in the fall and winter, and coats, gloves/mittens, scarves and boots are especially important donations during this time.

Bedding

If these items are in good condition, homeless shelters will put them to use, especially in the winter months. Additionally, hospices can always use quality donations in order to make their patients as comfortable as possible in their final days.

Books, Videos and CDs

With budget cuts, many schools and libraries are unable to buy new materials as often as they would like, which negatively impacts their students and patrons. By donating to these establishments, you are helping your community and aiding in the education of others.

Dishes, Silverware, and Food-Related Utensils

Homeless shelters that cater to families are often divided into small apartments, complete with kitchens.  By donating to these organizations, you can help a family sit down to a home cooked meal, thus providing stability during a difficult time.

Knick-Knacks, Artwork, and the Like

These are often tricky to donate, as many are personal mementos or are considered clutter by others. Residents of nursing homes, and those suffering from a terminal illness, can often live in drab surroundings.  Therefore, items such as these can brighten their rooms and bring smiles to their faces.

Furniture

Craig’s List is a great place to find people in need of free furniture. When posting, be sure to include a photo, and request that prospective owners pick up the furniture. Be cautious when using sites such as these, though, and use common sense when allowing strangers into your home.

Used Medical Equipment

It is not uncommon to have used medical equipment left after a loved one’s death, especially in the case of a prolonged illness or severe injury. When left with a wheelchair, walker, shower chair, or other equipment, find an area hospice in need of your items. These are often nonprofit, and can always use quality donations.

The loss of a loved one can be a devastating time. The last thing you want to worry about is what to do with their possessions once they are gone.

However, with a little thought and end of life planning, you can make this a relatively painless process, and one that can be handled quickly and efficiently, so you can begin to move past your tragedy and start the grief and loss and healing process.

Courtesy of Joseph Baker

Our Personal Gift to You and Your Loved Ones…

Please Take Advantage of Our:

4 FREE Guides to Creating a Smart End of Life Plan

(Note: You can download, print, or save each guide below at NO COST)

Please Watch This Brief Video Explaining Why You Should Create Your End of Life Plan:

Click here to view the embedded video.

1. “Completing Your Family Record Guide“:

• Benefits of keeping all of your financial affairs in one place

• A complete list of key matters to have readily available

• Who can access and how often to update this information

2. “Guide to Knowing Your 3 Best Options to Pre-Pay Funeral Expenses“:

• PreNeed Plan – How this plan works, who it fits, pros and cons

• Final Expense Plan – How this plan works, who it fits, pros and cons

• Cemetery Pre-Purchase Kit – Burial Versus Funeral Pre-Planning

3. “Guide to Choosing a Will Versus a Trust“:

• The importance of creating an estate plan and how to start

• Easy-to-understand difference between a Will versus Trust

• Helpful ways to determine which is one is best for you

4. “Guide to Creating a Love Drawer”:

• Benefits of keeping all of your financial affairs in one place

• A complete list of key matters to have readily available

• Who can access and how often to update this information

See Exactly What a “Love Drawer” is – and Why It is So Valuable For EVERY Family:

Click here to view the embedded video.

A Personal Story From the Founder:

I would like to share my personal story to explain why this is so important…

Since I have worked as a Financial Advisor for nearly 25 years, part of my job is helping protect families against unexpected events that can cause significant financial and/or emotional difficulties. Life most Financial Advisors, I typically accomplish this by using products and strategies such as Life Insurance, Wills, Trusts, Estate Planning, Disability Insurance, Long-Term Care/Home/Umbrella Insurance, and more.

To be honest, I considered myself to be well-versed in protecting my clients…and even my personal family. However, everything changed for me when I lost my mother on Thanksgiving Day of 2008.

Losing a close loved one is, by far, one the most difficult experiences anyone can face in their lifetime. I remember feeling so disappointed that, as a Financial Advisor, I was never educated or trained about how to handle this situation in any way. I was so surprised to face the fact that I was totally unprepared. And I also remember feeling so disappointed that I was unable to answer the 3 most common questions nearly every family asks:

1. What do we do now?

2. Who can we turn to for credible help, advice, and guidance?

3. How do we get started?

What is One of the Most Valuable Lesson I Learned?

Looking back on this extremely difficult process myself, I suddenly realized it didn’t have to be that way. Over the years, there were countless opportunities for me to find the time to have this discussion with my parents. Every day I regret the fact that I did not take the time to talk about planning and preparing for this, and encourage them to simply document their preferences for “what they would want“. Every day I see my mothers remains in a beautiful urn, and yet I regret not knowing whether she is in the “right place”.

I fully understand that nobody likes to talk about death or dying, but the harsh reality is that we will all die some day. So I cannot encourage anyone reading this enough…every son, daughter, spouse, grandchild, or loved…to have this discussion…sooner versus later…since you never know what the future holds in store for us.

You Will NOT Regret This!

You will experience two meaningful results from this selfless act of love:

1. You won’t regret it – You will sleep better at night, and your family and loved ones will be forever grateful. This is a win-win!

2. You will be remember in a better way – Knowing this would be a time of great loss, you took the time to do something very special. You sent an everlasting message that showed how much you cared by easing the burden of so many difficult emotional and financial decisions.

The REAL Reason End of Life Planning is the “Gift of a Lifetime”:

Going through something like this helps you realize that every day is a gift. I guess that is exactly why they call it “the present“. Use “your present” day and time to build a plan that allows your loved ones to celebrate your life and be thankful for all of the great memories and times they were able to share with you.

Again, congratulations for taking this all-important step for you, your family, and all of your loved ones!  Below is the link that takes you to each of these 4 FREE Guides:

Four Key Guides to Your End of Life Planning Gift For Your Loved Ones

Christopher P. Hill, Founder
FuneralResources.com

According to AARP (www.aarp.org), the average cost of a funeral today is approximately $10,000.  So by preplanning a funeral and creating an end of life plan, your are certainly doing a wonderful thing by helping to alleviate many of the funeral planning challenges.

Therefore, over 60% of people who are willing to selflessly take the time to create an End of Life Plan will also choose to prepay their funeral expenses.  By taking care of your funeral costs and expenses in advance, this is yet another added value.  Prepaying your funeral costs is another way of leaving behind a memory of how much you cared for your family and loved ones, rather than leaving them to deal with these financial challenges.

While you need to learn and understand the three most common ways to preplan a funeral, you should also be familiar with the various ways of prepaying your funeral expenses, since this is  one of the fastest growing and widely-accepted aspects of the funeral planning process.

Similar to preplanning your funeral, most financial professionals agree that prepaying your funeral expenses should be a standard topic of discussion when creating a financial plan and estate plan.

The most common and widely used strategies to prepay your funeral expenses are savings, life insurance, and funeral insurance (also referred to as burial insurance), mainly because they tend to be deemed the most reliable and readily available. However, there are several other finance advice strategies to consider when prepaying your funeral costs or expenses:

Savings

Although many people choose to set aside savings to pay for their end of life plan and funeral expenses, there are several reasons this does not always end up working out as originally planned. First, the savings can be depleted based on unexpected financial circumstances, such as health or financial issues. Second, these funds are not always readily available and liquid upon death due to the challenges and restrictions often found in estate planning. Third, the funds set aside can often be insufficient due to inflation and the rising cost of funeral expenses. Finally, it should be noted that savings are included in a part of one’s estate, and, thus, the taxable consequences can often come into play.

Life Insurance

Term Life Insurance is widely considered to be a flexible, simple, and affordable way to pay for your final funeral expenses. Although Term Life Insurance has a set term, or set number of years, it also has multiple uses in prepaying for your funeral. Because upon your death it becomes a liquid asset that is usually not part of your estate, it can be used for many things such as your funeral or memorial services, burial expenses, cremation, liquidity, and many other things, including debts or obligations.

In addition, there are some types of life insurance that allow the funds contributed to these policies (either in lump sum, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually) to grow and accumulate as a cash value that can be accessed if necessary. Therefore, these policies can not only be used for funeral expenses, but also for other financial planning options that may arise such as financial emergencies, and college.

Funeral Insurance

Funeral insurance is an insurance policy which is specifically designed to cover any costs or expenses which are directly related to your funeral. If you purchase one of these policies, one of the options you have is to determine exactly which funeral costs or expenses are to be covered, such as funeral flowers, burial plot, grave marker, and much more. Another option you have is for the policy to be paid out in a single lump-sum, which can be used to cover your pre-determined costs or expenses, or simply help your loved ones financially as they plan for you. There are many insurance companies that offer funeral planning packages, and certain funeral homes or funeral companies also offer funeral insurance policies.

PreNeed Trust Agreements

Another alternative to prepaying your funeral is to consider a PreNeed Trust Agreement to pay for your costs or expenses. Generally speaking, these Trust accounts are typically funded with monthly payments that are invested in a fund which is designed to grow over time. Although a Trust account is designed to provide the potential for protection against inflation, it is not guaranteed to do so.

Get Help

Although the large majority of the funeral industry will tell you that most funeral costs can range anywhere from $5,000 – $10,000, it is very common for funerals to cost much more or maybe even less.

Also, as with any important financial decision or investment, there are many advantages and disadvantages to each of the options mentioned above. Before choosing a policy, it is important to consider many things, including but not limited to your age, health, financial status, objectives, liquid assets, tax issues, estate tax issues, family needs, etc.

In summary, although nobody likes to think or talk about dying, it is one of the facts of life we all must eventually face. If you are trying to build a successful financial plan, the only way you can be sure your plan works smoothly and efficiently is to be proactive about your planning process. This is particularly true and necessary when creating a proper plan of succession, and everyone should consider including an end-of-life plan.

Please consult with your attorney or financial advisor before applying or purchasing any of these policies, pay close attention to your specific state requirements, and also the financial strength and claims paying abilities of each company, funeral home, etc.

See Exactly Why This Makes Perfect Sense…From the Heart

The sad truth is that the financial planning industry largely overlooks the fact that creating an End of Life Plan needs to be a part of a sound comprehensive financial plan.  To prove my point, as a Financial Advisor for nearly 25 years, I have never been trained or educated on how to help my clients prepare their end of life plans and preferences.  Furthermore, I have also never been trained or educated on how to help my clients deal with the funeral planning process after a loved one has passed.

See For Yourself Why This Only Makes Sense:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Missing Piece of Financial Planning – Your End of Life Plan!

The reality is that a client should logically turn to their Financial Advisor for anything that has to do with not only their money, but also  the best interests of their family.  This involves a detailed review and analysis of things like insurance, investments, estate planning details (How to Choose Wills or Living Trusts), minimizing or eliminating taxes, college planning, mortgages, and so on.

The key point here is that as Financial Advisors, arguably the most important role we play is helping protect families against unexpected events that can cause major financial or emotional challenges…and possibly irreparable damages or losses.

Most Financial Advisors typically protect their clients by implementing traditional financial products and strategies such as life insurance or creating Wills or Living Trusts with Estate Attorneys.  They also recommend and promote important insurance policies which are designed to protect against specific losses, such as disability insurance, long-term care insurance, annuities, car and home insurance, and many other options.  These recommendations can vary, since  of course, each family’s situation is usually unique and different.

To be honest, I considered myself to be extremely well-versed in how to protect my clients, as well as my own family, against unexpected events.  However, everything changed on Thanksgiving Day of 2008 when I lost a close loved one and had to go through this experience personally.

Very Few Families Know “What to Do Next”

Losing a close loved one is, by far, one the most difficult experiences anyone can face in their lifetime.  I remember feeling so disappointed as we went through this experience…thinking that since I was a Financial Advisor, I should know better.  However, the enormity of the situation really hit me when I realized that I was never trained or educated on how to plan and prepare my clients for this particular situation.  I am almost ashamed to admit, I was totally unprepared.

I can remember looking at my family, and without saying a single word, you could tell we all had the exact same questions.  And sadly, these are the questions that most families are forced to deal with every day when they lose a loved one…such as:

1.  What do we do now?

2.  Who can we turn to for credible help and advice?

3.  How do we get started?

See What a “Love Drawer” Is – and Why Every Family NEEDS One:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Looking Back…What Could I Have Done Differently?

As I look back, I remember how comforting and gratifying it was to see our family come together and accomplish so many things in such a short period of time.  At the same time, I also remember feeling frustrated because not only did we lack the knowledge to deal with many of these challenges, but we also had not idea where to turn to for the help and answers we needed.

After experiencing all of the emotional ups and downs, the funeral planning challenges, planning all of the memorial service details, and even working out things like;  how to write a eulogy, choosing funeral flowers versus donations, and choosing among the many cremation urn, I can honestly tell you that planning a funeral can become overwhelming.

May I Offer Some Valuable Advice?

So after all of this, here is what I think so many people need to hear.  Consider these facts:

1.  There is nothing more difficult than the loss of a loved one
2.  Planning a funeral and memorial service is an almost overwhelming process
3.  The large majority of families are uneducated on the many details involved in this process
4.  VERY few families are left with any end of life plans – telling them  “what to do next”

The truth is it really doesn’t have to be this way. Yes, we are talking about death and dying.  No, it is not fun, and not something we like to even think about.  However, the harsh reality is that some day you will die.  So when you break it down to these simple facts, you are left with two choices:

1.   Do nothing – and let your family add insult to injury
2.   Plan in advance – and minimize or eliminate some of the burden you will leave behind

We are All in the Same Boat

If you think about it, there has been countless opportunities over the years for me to find the time to have this discussion with my clients, my personal family, and immediate family, my friends, and so many others.

I can honestly tell you that every day I regret the fact that I did not know how to talk about these all-important issues, nor did I know how to properly plan and prepare, in advance, for something that is this meaningful.

At the very least, I should have encouraged my entire family to make sure they document the most important final plans and preferences for ”what the would want“. To accomplish this, all you need to do is take the time to complete a Family Record Guide.

Every day I look at a beautiful urn in my office.  This urn reminds me of one of the most amazing people I will ever know and love, and I cannot help but wonder;  “Is she in the right place? I will never know “the right place”, but I do know that it did not have to be this way.

What is the Key Message Here?

Again, please understand that I know nobody likes to talk about death, dying, or end of life planning.  However, we have to face and accept the fact that not are we going to die some day, but it could happen much sooner than anyone ever expected.

So my sincere hope is that I can encourage anyone who is reading this…every son, daughter, spouse, grandchild, or loved one…to have this discussion with your family. And since nobody knows what the future might bring, have this talk sooner versus later.

Please Always Remember This

There is no such thing as preparing your End of Life Plan too soon.  On the contrary, the worst thing you can do is take the attitude of “I don’t need to do this now…that won’t happen to me“, or, “I can can do this later“. As the old adage goes;

“By Failing to Plan…You are Planning to Fail.”

You Can’t Go Wrong:

By creating an end of life plan in advance, here are a few of the meaningful benefits you will experience from this selfless act of love:

1.  Peace of mind – You will sleep better at night knowing that you have completed this all-important plan, and that your family and loved ones will be forever grateful.  This is the true definition of a win-win situation.

2.  You control how you will be remembered - Knowing this will be a time of great loss for your loved ones, you will be remembered for showing how much you cared by sacrificing the time to do something very special…easing the burden when it is needed the most.

After going through something like this helps you realize that every day is truly a gift.  I guess that is exactly why they call it ”the present“.  So please, take advantage of “the present” you are given today and build a plan that allows your loved ones to celebrate your life, and focus on how grateful they are today…and will be after you are gone…for all of the great memories they were able to share with you.

GET STARTED TODAY – Your First Easy Step:

I would like to personally congratulate you, in advance, for taking the first step towards creating a smart End of Life plan for you, your family, and all of your loved ones!

The first step to getting started is clicking on this link below to access our:

Four Key End of Life Planning Guides

(Note: There’s NO COST to download, save, or print these four guides)

Christopher P. Hill, Founder
FuneralResources.com

Thinking About Buying a Foreclosed Property?
BUYERS BEWARE!

Protect Yourself Against Being a Victim of

Increasing Defective Foreclosures

Defective Foreclosures:

There are many headlines and news reports about defective foreclosures, major lender nationwide suspensions of foreclosures and governmental investigations of foreclosure fraud. You need to make sure that you are not a victim of this legal morass.

Profits From Foreclosures:

Buy low and sell high – is also a formula for making money in real estate. One way many people have bought low is to buy a property which has been foreclosed against. Often, a bank may be eager to get rid of a property that is costing it money that it cannot sell for top dollar because it needs a lot of work after it was trashed by the former owner or vandals. The investor buys the house, fixes it up and resells it for a profit or adds the house to their rental portfolio. Because of substantial fix up costs, cash requirements and holding period costs, the investor usually needs to buy the property 40% or more under the market value.

Example of John and Jane:

John and Jane have been working for 20 years, but are nowhere near their dream of retiring with a large financial cushion. They went to a real estate seminar about how to make millions by buying foreclosure property and paid hundreds of dollars for books and tapes sold by the speakers. They follow the guidelines they learned, buy a foreclosure property, fix it up and are ready to put the house back on the market for a profit of over $50,000.

After listing the property for sale with a realtor, they are served with legal papers from the former owner demanding that John and Jane turn over the house back to the former owner due to a defect in the foreclosure process. John and Jane lose the case, have to pay an attorney $50,000 to defend themselves and lose all of their investment and their savings of $100,000, sweat equity and lost weekends they put into the house. Their foreclosure dream has become a nightmare.

Foreclosure Legal Process:

The buyer of a foreclosed property can have title problems if the legal procedure followed by the attorney overseeing the foreclosure was defective. There are many stories in the press now about defective foreclosures. In general, the law says you can’t take someone’s house unless you provide them the mandated notice, advertise the sale in the paper, have a proper auction and follow any required court filing procedures. Everyone can understand the heartbreak of someone who loses their home to a foreclosure and the law provides some protection to home owners against arbitrary foreclosures.

Typically, after notice and advertisement, an auctioneer sells the property at a public auction and this process results in a legal transfer of title under state law to the new owner who made the highest bid at auction, all against the will of the foreclosed owner. Given the volume of foreclosures and bank loses, the lenders may have put the foreclosure legal work out to the lowest bidder and achieved defective results. Where a foreclosure does not properly transfer title to the auction buyer, the person who bought the property at the auction may never receive good title; the property may still be legally owned by the person against whom the foreclosure took place. This all depends upon a complex set of state rules.

Each state has its own esoteric legal steps that have to be followed to legally transfer title through the foreclosure process. If the process was not followed correctly, the title of the buyer at auction could be defective and the auction buyer may be unable to pass good title onto the purchaser.

How Can This Happen?

As a buyer of a property which has been foreclosed, you could have a loss of investment in the following cases:

1. You Didn’t Buy Title Insurance:

You got a loan to buy the foreclosed property and the lender received title insurance but you did not buy title insurance for yourself. Title insurance is where a capital rich insurance company enters into a contract to guarantee that the title to the property is good. There are lender policies and buyer policies. For the buyer to be protected, the buyer has to buy their own policy. The buyer may not understand this or try to save money by only paying for a lender policy, mistakenly thinking they are protected by the lender insurance policy. A lender title policy protects the lender from loss, but not the buyer.

2. You Got a Quit Claim Deed:

In the deed, there is generally a guarantee, called a “warranty” of title from the seller. If there is a title defect and you have a warranty deed, you have legal recourse against the seller if the seller had a title defect in their foreclosure. If there is no guarantee in the deed, you may have no recourse against the seller of a property with a defective title.

3. The Bank Went Bankrupt:

The bank or large federally regulated institution went bankrupt and even though you had a warranty deed, you are now an unsecured creditor in a huge nationwide bankruptcy case headquartered in Delaware and you have to hire a Delaware attorney for a large fee to collect three cents of every dollar you invested.

4. Your Title Insurance Does Not Protect You:

You go to settlement and pay for title insurance. You ask to read the title insurance policy to make sure that you are protected against a defective foreclosure on the property prior to signing the settlement papers. If you have a title insurance contract that says you own the property with no exceptions for the prior foreclosure and you lose the property due to a defective foreclosure, then the title company is supposed to pay you for the loses up to the dollar limit of the title policy. The settlement company says they will get around to writing up the policy a couple of weeks after settlement. The settlement company gives you a letter saying they will commit to issuing you a title policy with certain exceptions.

The exceptions listed concern anything to do with the foreclosure. Unless the exceptions for the foreclosure are later removed, the title insurance contract will not protect you from defects in the foreclosure process.

The problem is that you may have to go to settlement before the title company has even looked at the foreclosure paperwork to determine if there is a problem. All you get is a promise that they will issue a policy later and you have nothing in writing that they will guarantee there are no problems with the prior foreclosure. You may have only bought yourself a lawsuit if later the title company finds a problem with the foreclosure.

5. You Lost Your Fix Up Costs and Profit:

Larry and Louise bought a title policy with no exceptions for the foreclosure with a limit of $150,000, the price they paid for the house. They put $50,000 of fix up and carrying costs into the house and are ready to sell it for $250,000. But, they lost the property due to a defect in the foreclosure process. The title company makes good on the insurance policy and pays Larry and Louise the policy limit of $150,000 and Larry and Louise are out $100,000.

How to Protect Yourself:

In general, this has not been a likely problem in the past and in many cases will not be a problem today for many reasons even if there is a defect in the foreclosure. But, press reports indicate that the numbers of foreclosures that have “gone bad” have dramatically increased.

To protect yourself, obtain a copy of the title policy with insurance against foreclosure defects prior to the settlement. If you have this option, select a title company to do the settlement that you know and trust to thoroughly review the foreclosure record.

If you expect a large profit, have a clause in your purchase contract that provides that your own lawyer must approve the foreclosure paperwork as a condition of going to settlement. This will focus everyone’s attention on getting this taken care of prior to settlement.

The Facts About Today’s Real Estate Market:

• Demand for home buyers is slowing
• The number of homes for sale is growing
• The length of time to sell houses in most areas is increasing
• There is currently an extremely large and growing number of homes in the banks inventories
• the only logical conclusion is to expect a prolonged period of declining real estate prices in the period ahead
• Foreclosures and “short sales” are exponentially rising
• Time Magazine recently published an article stating that the number of homeowners who are more than 90 days delinquent on their mortgage payments is estimated to be about 5 Million

Therefore, when you combine all of these factors together, the only logical conclusion to be drawn is that the real estate market should have a prolonged period of continued decline in home values in the foreseeable future.  And until these trends change, you might want to think about whether a foreclosed property today is really a “bargain”.

Buyer Beware:

We can all probably remember back in the years 2001 and 2002, when many people were buying technology stocks because they were a “bargain” at $100 after dropping 50% from their $200 highs.  Well, as you know the story goes, most of these stocks either went out of business or ultimately dropped to prices below $10.  So sometimes a “bargain” is not always as easy to identify as we would like.

The Powerful Combination of Custom Crafted Funeral Music, Pictures, and Professional Video…

Creating a Healing Thanksgiving Family Keepsake

With the rapid growth in the Internet and new funeral technology, families today have access to many new and innovative tools that can help significantly increase their funeral and memorial planning experience. At the top of this list are DVD Video Tributes, which most families are choosing as a common addition to their loved ones memorial service.

In addition, I am happy tell everyone there is also the ability to work with a professional singer/songwriter/producer who can help families create “custom crafted” funeral music, which is a song that is personalized for either a special loved one and/or a special event.

Listen to this BEAUTIFUL Custom Crafted Song – Personalized For a One-Of-A-Kind Mother:

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Since my family never knew this powerful funeral technology existed,  I strongly encourage every family to learn more about this option as a great addition to a Memorial Service.  These professionally designed Video Tributes allow you to combine the personalized music, photos, and message of your choice.  Watching this together with loved ones, this provides a great opportunity for everyone to celebrate, remember, and heal…and ultimately becomes a treasured family heirloom to keep forever.”
Christopher P. Hill, Founder, FuneralResources.com

Consider Using Custom Crafted Songs to Help Heal and Remember

If you are interested in selecting funeral songs with meaningful lyrics it may be easy to use the internet to search and read lyrics of popular songs.  However, I believe a much better and more personal solution is to opt for a more customized music selection and have a song written and recorded to play at the funeral service or memorial service.

This DVD Video Tribute below contains a customized song that was created for me by Anna Huckabee of Custom Crafted Songs.  By taking advantage of creating a custom crafted song, this helped me to express how I truly felt about my mother, but in a very special and meaningful way.

By combining these personalized lyrics that Anna helped me create with a DVD Video Tribute, this helped me in so many ways.  First, it helped me to better see what a wonderful and amazing person she really was.  Second, since Anna needed to ask many questions  to know as much as possible about her, this helped me to express my thoughts and discuss some things that significantly helped in my healing process.  But most importantly, this custom crafted song allowed me to express some feelings and emotions that I was not able to say to her before she passed.  These words are things that I regret every day not telling her before she was taken above.

My mother passed on Thanksgiving Day of 2008, which clearly means that Thanksgiving will never be the same.  But since everyone who knew her would tell you she was one of the most giving people on the planet, I truly thank Anna for creating this personal song and tribute for my mother, and fittingly calling this beautiful song “Thanks For Giving“.

Thanks for your giving ways too Anna!

Top 5 Reasons Video Tributes are Common Memorial Options

1. A Quality Memorial Tribute

Each custom DVD Video Tribute is hand-crafted by professional technicians who artfully tell your loved one’s story. With expert direction, the funeral music and imagery join together in perfect harmony to create a healing experience as individual as your loved one’s life. This memorial tribute will be a treasured family heirloom for generations to come.

2. Restore Your Loved One’s Photos

Your precious photos are carefully restored, enhanced and artfully arranged by talented multimedia technicians. These experts can combine faded, tattered, torn, static snapshots into moving cinematic video, bringing your treasured photos to life forever.

3. Create a Fitting Video Memorial

From majestic mountains and oceans to the simplicity and beauty of a single rose, a Funeral Video DVD utilizes custom thematic scenery, filmed in stunning High Definition by world-renown videographers, designed to personalize and illustrate your loved ones life.

4. Healing and Uplifting Funeral Music

A professionally crafted DVD Video Tribute utilizes therapeutic, custom soundtracks. This special music is specifically composed, arranged and/or produced to heal a broken heart as well as provide the perfect accompaniment to your family photos.

5. A Memorial as Individual As Your Loved One

These Video Tributes are professionally produced tributes which, celebrate your loved ones life in magnificent cinematic quality and are available in standard or wide-screen format.

Visit our site to learn more information about some of the other new and innovative funeral technology tools now available when planning a funeral. You can also learn about things like Memorial Websites, Gravestone Technology, Custom Crafted Funeral Music, Memorial Reefs, Memorial Diamonds as well as Funeral Webcasting by visiting the funeral technology tab at the top of our website.

Christopher P. Hill, Founder

Top Six Funeral Technologies That Help Share, Remember, Grieve, Celebrate, and Heal…and More!

Today, many new and innovative funeral technologies are widely recognized in the funeral industry as common services that help make a difficult situation a little easier. New funeral technology is helping families and friends who have lost a one heal, remember, and celebrate. Here are the most common new funeral technologies that most families are choosing:

Memorial Websites

A Memorial Website is a personalized website that is created to celebrate a person’s life. Friends and family can grieve and celebrate the memories of a loved one by sharing stories, kind thoughts, condolences, photos, and videos online. These online Memorial Tributes can be kept online for life so that friends and family can view the wonderful memories year after year and additional content can be added at any time.

DVD Video Tribute

See a Sample DVD Video Here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

In its simplest definition, a DVD Video Tribute is a professionally crafted video production which consists of digital images, video, and/or photos of your loved one, which are then combined and played simultaneously with the music or your choice. They can serve as an excellent presentation to complement your special funeral memorial service, and are a great way to help in the grief and healing process. A DVD Video Tribute helps tell the story of your loved ones life, and also creates a family heirloom that can be treasured and kept for years to come.

Memorial Diamonds

Created from a lock of hair or small amount of cremated ashes, memorial diamonds are an unique, heirloom memorial that will forever contain the essence of your loved one. These genuine, certified diamonds are created in a laboratory using your loved ones personal carbon and a diamond seed. By mimicking the earth’s natural high pressure, high temperatures necessary to create a diamond, in 70 days or less a personal diamond will emerge in one of the five brilliant colors you have selected. These memorial diamonds can be a stunning reminder of a loved ones life and unique spirit. Set into a beautiful piece of cremation jewelry, a memorial diamond can be worn close to the heart in a pendant, or into a memorial ring, bracelet or even earrings.

Gravestone Technology

Due to advances in microchip technology, your family can now include detailed text and a photo within a headstone to create a high tech, high end memorial. RFID-enabled data tags are an addition to a loved one’s tomb stone – you can enter the person’s name and choose some representative symbols, perhaps a small epitaph via the web – then you embed the tag into a larger traditional tombstone.

This new technology will allow future generations, visitors and historians to access both a story and genealogical information about the deceased from an internet enabled cell phone while at the markers physical location.

Funeral Webcasting

See the Many Features and Benefits of Funeral Webcasting Here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

For a wide variety of reasons, family members and friends are often unable to travel or attend the actual funeral service of a loved one. Using this innovative funeral technology, families and loved ones can now view the actual LIVE Memorial Service from the comfort of their own home, or whatever location is most convenient. Funeral Webcasting can be viewed on a private and secure website page by using password protection. This ensures that ONLY the people you wish to join in this Memorial Service can participate LIVE.

Memorial Reefs

A memorial reef is an environmentally-friendly burial option that is being used to replace the more traditional green burials and cremation ideas, such as cremation urns or ash scattering. The process includes mixing a loved ones remains into an environmentally safe concrete mixture and create a personalized memorial reef. These memorial reefs are then placed into the ocean. This combination of new funeral technologies, cremation, memorial reefs, and green burials can now offer families to provide their loved ones with a living legacy at sea.

Creating a Will or Trust Does Not Solve Many Key Problems

What is Estate Planning?

Insurance companies, banks, financial advisors, and many attorneys all advertise that they will help you with your estate plan. However, when financial advisors talk about estate planning, unless you are using the proper disclosures, many people can be confused as whether you are providing financial and/or legal advice.

The Answer

An effective estate plan is one that protects and provides, for you and your loved ones, now and in the future.  Then, this plan distributes your property the way you want, when you want, and how you want, while paying the minimum of taxes and expenses and causing the smallest possibility of a family feud. The reality is the only way this effective plan can happen is when two things occur:

1.  You take advantage of utilizing the skills of lawyers, accountants, financial planners, insurance professionals and/or trust officers.
2.  Each of these financial professionals involved work together to coordinate and integrate this estate plan so that it works in harmony with the rest of this client’s comprehensive financial plan.

Example: Sam and Sally

Sam and Sally meet with a seasoned estate planning attorney to develop an estate plan. During the interview the estate planning attorney discovers that Sam has several old life insurance policies which would provide $300,000 to Sally if Sam died, and the total cash value of the policies are $280,000.  The cash value is what the insurance company would pay Sam today if Sam turned in (surrendered) the insurance policies while Sam is still alive.

Like many seniors and baby boomers, Sam draws income from a pension plan which has a 50% Survivor Benefit.  Therefore, after Sam dies, Sally will receive only half of his pension income, which creates a significant decrease in not only Sally’s income and standard of living, but also her ability to maintain the payments and upkeep of their house.

Like most seniors and baby boomers (and homeowners for the most part), Sally’s home is her pride and joy.  She has spent thousands of hours on activities and improvements such as landscaping, building beautiful flower beds, decorating her kitchen, adding a wonderful deck and patio, and so on.  Sally enjoyed making her home a very pleasing and comfortable place, and this special home is filled with many wonderful memories of family gatherings.

What is the Central Problem?

As mentioned earlier, the lawyers can create the Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney and property transfers to make their estate plan perform as they believe to be effective.  But, the reality in most cases is that these documents do not save Sally’s house. The central problem in Sam and Sally’s estate is not the legal documents.

Their original intention was to prepare the proper legal documents and estate plan that would ensure their property goes to whom they want, when they want, and how they want, with the minimum of taxes and expenses.  However, in this case, this does not accomplish some of key goals which have been overlooked or ignored.

The problem here is that Sally, who statistically is likely to survive Sam, will not receive enough life insurance proceeds to replace the income she needs in order to stay in her beloved home after Sam dies.  As with most cases, the children of Sam and Sally have their own families, are well established and don’t need (or are not depending on) Sam and Sally’s money to live on.  And now at Sally age and place in life, the so-called “golden years”, she does not have the stamina, skills, or desire to go back into the workplace.

Providing For the Surviving Spouse

In this case, the proper solution to this central problem would have been for Sam, or a qualified financial advisor, to identify this potential problem, and exchange his insurance policies for a new insurance policy that will provide enough money for Sally to live on after Sam dies.

Not only is this something financial advisors are trained to protect retirees agains, but they are also likely to know that the tax code under Section 1035 allows Sam to exchange his old policies for a new policy with a higher death benefit and lower cash value.  The best part is this life insurance policy can exchange without paying any taxes at the time of the exchange, even though Sam is using his untaxed earnings (capital gains, dividends, interest, etc.) in his insurance policy to buy something of greater value to him.

The Main Purpose of Life Insurance

There are many reasons people or families choose to buy permanent life insurance, since it can serve many purposes.  For example, some purchase these policies as an investment due to the upside growth potential of the cash value.  Others purchase these permanent policies as a tax-saving or tax-deferral vehicle, since the cash value grows without being tax, and if managed properly, can be withdrawn without paying taxes or penalties.  One other common use of permanent insurance is to replace the income or estate taxes which could be due at the death of the surviving spouse.

However, the basic definition of insurance is the transfer of risk. Therefore, the most common reason people own life insurance is to replace the income lost in the event a spouse were to unexpected die, transferring the risk of a premature death to the insurance company. In this case, with $280,000 of cash value and a death benefit of $300,000, Sam has nearly all of the risk of his death on his shoulders and his insurance is providing him virtually no leverage.

This is the type of information that should be discovered by a financial advisor or insurance agent in the initial stages of the planning process, or discovered and brought to Sam and Sally’s attention during a review of their estate plan.  By simply asking questions regarding the amount of income Sally will have to live on should Sam die, how much life insurance Sam has, what kind of life insurance Sam owns, and what  the cash value amount is, this potential problem could have been easily avoided.

Solving the Central Problem.

The best possible solution is for Sam and Sally to have a qualified estate planning attorney and trustworthy financial and/or insurance professional working together. The insurance professional’s role would be to “shop around” and locate an insurance company that would be willing to offer Sam the best and most appropriate policy, with the goal being the largest death benefit and the longest duration.  Sam and Sally would then pay for this life insurance policy by using the cash value from Sam’s existing insurance policies.

The Features and Benefits

This aforementioned life insurance policy exchange, known as a 1035 exchange, does not require Sam and Sally to write a check, there are no tax consequences when they “trade the cash value” for this new policy, and they will not be required to pay any future insurance payments because they used the entire cash value to pay for this new policy in a lump-sum.

So if Sam owns a permanent policy, this is better in every way.  If Sam owns a policy where the life insurance protection only lasts for a certain number of years (commonly referred to as either Term Insurance or Universal Life Insurance), Sally will likely receive a much high amount of life insurance proceeds, and when combine with some of their other assets and income sources, this will likely be enough for Sally to stay in her beloved home.

Of course, Sam had the alternative of taking the $280,000 out of the policy and investing it in hopes that he could grow this $280,000 to a much higher amount, there are two major problems with this strategy.  First, there is risk.  For example, in 1966, the DJIA reached 1000 for the first time.  However, approximately 8 years later the DJIA plummeted to 570 at the Watergate Bottom, losing nearly 50% of its value during this 8-year period.  Another example is back in 1999 when the Nasdaq surged to approximately 5000.  However, 10 years later, the Nasdaq was below 1000, losing 80% of its value over this 10-year period.  The second problem is, even in a rising stock market trend such as 1990 to 1999, there are no guarantees Sam will live to a certain age.  Remember, the main goal of using this strategy is to transfer Sally’s risks to an insurance company.

How Can this Fail?

This happens very frequently because Sam’s prior insurance agent failed to discuss the possibility of this future problem with Sam and Sally. However, if Sam had consulted with a qualified insurance agent or financial advisor, he or she would have likely recognized this problem and either suggested a solution or recommended that Sam and Sally perform annual reviews to monitor this problem in the years ahead.  This happens far too often in the financial professional industry, and the most common reasons are:

1.  Some financial professionals tend to focus solely on products or strategies where they are compensated
2.  Others fail to recognize the importance and necessity to coordinate with the other key financial professionals who are directly or indirectly involved
3.  Some financial professionals simply fail to lack the training and expertise to understand these issues and options.

Key to Creating an Effective Estate Plan

Arguably the key ingredient in creating an effective estate plan is working together with a team of financial professionals who are looking out for the clients best interest from a “big picture standpoint”.  By working with a team that includes key financial professionals like a CPA, estate planning attorney, insurance professional, financial advisor, or personal banker, each of them can make an important contribution in helping to protect and preserve an sound estate plan.

Questions or Concerns?

Please contact our Estate Planning Expert Roger McClure at (571)-633-0330 or www.wealthcounsellors.com

As many of you know, I am an writer/editor for several financial planning magazines and websites. If you would like to follow some of my column and articles, just click here:

Retirement and End of Life Planning Specialist

Also, below is a link to a page that talks about the “Top 10 Reasons” for people to consider preplanning.

I truly believe you will find this article to be extremely helpful and educational, particularly because I shared some details about my personal story…and how it relates to the importance of End of Life Planning.

The article also explains why I have such a deep passion and mission to encourage EVERY family, Financial Advisor, Estate Attorney, CPA, Insurance Agent, and Funeral Director to discuss the need to create an End of Life Plan, and why this NEEDS to be a part of their overall financial and estate planning process.

Top Ten Reasons and Benefits For Creating an End of Life Plan

Hope this helps!!
Chris

ATTENTION MARRIED MEN:
Don’t Make the Mistake of Making a Will!

If you are a married man, making a Will can be a dangerous illusion.  The reality is there are no problems are solved without changing names on your accounts and house.

The Will Illusion:

We have all heard the TV and radio ads that you need to make a will and should hire a computer, not an expensive lawyer, to make the will. I have advised married men that only making a will is just an illusion that lulls them into a dangerous complacency. It is worse when the husband wants to make a will without his wife’s participation.

Why Do a Will?

Most married men who sign a will want to accomplish the following objectives: Make sure their property goes to their spouse and children; designate who will be the guardian of their children; make sure things go smoothly when they die; and protect the inheritance of their children. For the typical married man, none of these objectives are likely to be accomplished.

Ensure Property Goes to Spouse:

Seventy percent of married men own their house, bank and brokerage accounts and household goods jointly with their wives. The number is higher for first time married men. These men also usually designate their wives as the sole beneficiary of their retirement accounts and life insurance policies. They then sign a will, thinking they have protected their wives and children. Most men die before their wives. When the man dies, survived by the wife, everything goes to their wives due to the fact that all of their property is owned jointly with their wives and the will has no effect on the beneficiary designations on their insurance or retirement accounts. There is no protection of his wife of against her creditors or her disability and estate taxes will be higher. This is because the title to property overrides any provision of the will. If the man named his parents as the beneficiaries on his insurance or retirement accounts and did not change the beneficiary designations when he got married, then these accounts go to his parents if they survive him or to a probate estate if they do not, and not directly to his wife. Beneficiary designations override the provisions of a will.

Protect His Children:

Often, the married men I advise want to make sure that after taking care of their wives, their property goes to their children, and they want their will to say that. But, if the wife survives the husband, everything goes directly to her either by title or because the will says so. If the wife remarries, there is no protection for his children and all of man’s share of the property will go to the next husband and his children if the next husband survives his wife or one half to the next husband if there is a divorce. I have talked to many children who were unintentionally disinherited this way.

Guardians for His Children:

Husband dies first, survived by wife. Wife is now the guardian of the children and wife now decides who will be the guardian of his children if she then dies. The husband’s will is irrelevant at this point. Also, if the children are minors or disabled and if the wife does not have a will, in most states, the court will appoint the guardian and supervise the finances of the children until they are 18, depending upon the legal age for children in their state.

Things Go Smoothly:

Many people I have advised think that a will avoids probate. Not so; the will’s purpose is to direct the probate process. Instead, any property passing under a will must be probated. Probate is the state law process requiring that the will and a detailed list of assets are filed on the public record. Someday soon, your neighbor may be able to go online and see to whom you left your property. There are notice and accounting requirements, which vary from state to state and in some states are quite onerous and expensive to comply with. Probating a will is like filing a lawsuit against yourself, with a notice for everyone who has a claim to join in the lawsuit without the need to hire an attorney or file their own case.

Solutions That Do NOT Work:

The solution is not to make sure the wife dies first. Even if husband and wife make identical wills, and the husband dies first, none of the above is really changed much because the wife has a will. Non married couples come out ahead if they do not own their property jointly because the non married man’s will determines who inherits his separately owned property. Some married couples go so far as to get rid of jointly owned property, thereby requiring a probate when the husband dies and then again when the wife dies. This makes the probate lawyers a lot of fees.

Solutions that Work:

To accomplish the goals of the married man, he needs to set up a living trust and put the name of the trust on his accounts and real estate and name his trust as the death beneficiary of his insurance and retirement accounts. To have an estate plan which accomplishes your goals, I strongly suggest you sit down with a seasoned Estate Planning Attorney. If you need help finding one, we can help direct you on some great places to start.  You can speak with our Estate Planning Attorney Specialist, Roger McClure, at (571) 633-0330, roger@wealthcounsellors.com, or www.wealthcounsellors.com.

Five Tips for Finding a Quality Home Care Provider

You and your family have decided that it is time to bring in outside help to assist with the care of a loved one in need. Because you want them to be able to remain safe, comfortable and independent in their own home for as long as possible, you have chosen to hire an in-home caregiver or home healthcare agency. The next step is choosing the best care provider for you and your loved one. But how do you know who the best is?

Here are five tips for finding a quality home care provider:

1. Get recommendations. Talk to trusted professionals and community members. Your parent’s doctor, financial advisor, attorney, other medical providers, friends or family members may have familiarity and experience with local companies that do a good job. A list of providers is also available from your local Area Agency on Aging or hospital social work department. However, it is rare for these resources to make specific recommendations.

2. Know your liability. Understand the possible liabilities and ramifications involved when hiring a caregiver privately. Consider issues such as taxes, insurance, liability and worker’s compensation, backup coverage, background checks/oversight and training. If hiring through a nurse registry or employment agency, the family may end up being the official employer, responsible for pay, taxes and other obligations. On the other end of the spectrum, fully licensed private duty home health agencies offer more comprehensive services and protections as employers of the caregivers.

3. Consider innovation. Research how current their monitoring and communications technology is. How easy is it to monitor the care your loved one is receiving? Can you speak to the caregiver or management at any time?

4. Get to know who you’re hiring. When talking with an agency, get a feel for their process. Will they allow you and your loved one to interview potential caregivers? How do they handle replacing a caregiver that is not a good fit? What steps do they take to ensure coverage and accountability? How do they supervise, train and support staff? Do they strive for continuity or will your loved one have different staff each time? How many caregivers will cover the shifts your loved one requires? While regulations standardize licensed home care agencies to a degree, these are the things that will set one agency apart from another.

5. Research involvement. Seek out providers who have a history in the community and the industry. Check if providers are involved with local and national associations such as the Alzheimer’s Association, the Area Agency on Aging and the National Private Duty Association. Their involvement demonstrates passion and dedication for their field. Management staff that has a history in the community and the profession demonstrates a commitment, stability and a positive reputation that they would want to protect.

With many years of advocating for the rights of seniors and their families in Pinellas County Florida, EasyLiving, Inc., a fully licensed, private duty home healthcare company, has dedicated its company to offering clients more personalized service, flexible scheduling and reliable, expert caregivers. EasyLiving caregivers undergo an extensive interview process to ensure that they maintain fully qualified and licensed team members. Every caregiver has completed a criminal background check and drug screening, and are insured, bonded and covered under worker’s compensation to ensure that our clients receive the highest quality service from trustworthy, experienced professionals. EasyLiving provides paid training as well as all continuing education requirements to its caregivers annually, enabling them to improve their expertise and service. For more information, visit EasyLivingFl.com.

About the authors: Alex Chamberlain is executive director at EasyLiving, Inc., a fully licensed, private duty home health care company serving individuals and families in Pinellas and Pasco counties in Florida. With a strong background of academic and practical experience in sales, marketing, administration and leadership, Alex handles overall company operations, strategic planning and overseeing staff. He serves on the boards of a number of local non-profit organizations and was named a 2009 Tampa Bay Business Journal “Up and Comer.”

Shannon Martin, M.S.W., CMC, has served as director of community relations at Aging Wisely, LLC, a comprehensive care management and consultation company in Clearwater, Fla, over 8 years. Shannon provides marketing and public relations support to EasyLiving, Inc. Prior to Aging Wisely, Shannon served as social services director and admissions coordinator in an assisted living/skilled nursing facility and worked as a social worker and volunteer coordinator for a large hospice in Atlanta, Ga.

For additional information on EasyLiving, Inc. contact Shannon or Alex at 727-448-0900 or Admin@easylivingfl.com.

10 Most Common Questions Families Ask About Estate Planning, Wills, and Trusts

1. What is a Will?
A Will is signed writing in which a person (often referred to as the “testator”) directs what is to be done with his or her property after death. Each state has its own very specific laws as to what is necessary for a Will to be valid in that state.

2. Who Can Create a Will?
Any mentally competent person who is at least 18 years old may make a Will. However, later proof of any fraud, duress, or undue influence by another person or the testator may cause the Will to be invalid.

3. Who Should Have a Will…and Why?
Every mentally competent adult should have a Will. Here are a few of the reasons:
• You can direct how you want your property divided at your death.
• You can name the person you want to handle you estate (called the “executor” or “personal representative”).
• You can reduce the expenses of administering your estate.
• You can save taxes.
• You can nominate a guardian for your minor children.
• You may provide for a trust for the support and education of your children without the necessity of costly court proceedings.

4. Does a Will Need to Be Witnessed? Does a Will Need to Be Notarized?
Generally, most states require that the signing of a Will must be witnessed by two competent persons, who also must sign the Will in front of the testator. (An exception to the witness requirement is made if the testator writes out the entire Will in his or her own handwriting, and signs and dates it.)

Although the law does not require a Will to be notarized, it is a highly recommended practice, followed by most lawyers. If the testator’s and witnesses’ signatures have been notarized, the will is presumed to be properly executed and is accepted by the court without testimony from the witness.

5. How Long is Will Valid?
More Than 70% of Americans Die Without Leaving Behind a Will
Your Will is valid until you revoke it generally either by physical destruction (tearing or burning it up, for example) or by signing a superseding Will or written revocation. However, if you get divorced after signing
a Will, the law may consider the Will partially revoked. Also, if you are married, your spouse may have rights in your estate regardless of what is provided in your Will.

6. Can a Will Be Changed?
Your Will does not take effect until you die; therefore, it can be changed at any time during your life as long as you are mentally competent. Traditionally, Wills were changed by an amending instrument called a “codicil,” but with the development of modern word processing technology, it is usually better and just as easy to sign an entirely new Will when you wish to make changes.

7. What Happens If You Don’t Have a Will?
If you don’t have a Will, a state statute directs who receives you property, regardless of your wishes. For example, in my home state of Virginia, if you are married, your estate generally passes entirely to your surviving spouse; however, if you have children who are not also the children of your spouse, your children divided two-third of your estate, and your spouse takes the other one-third.

8. Is Joint Ownership a Good Substitute For a Will?
In most cases, joint ownership is not an acceptable substitute for a Will. Contrary to popular belief, joint ownership of assets between husband and wife often results in excessive estate takes. Joint ownership between parent and child may foster disputes between family members and cause unexpected and unnecessary gift taxes.

9. Is a Trust (Also referred to as a Revocable Living Trust) a Substitute for a Will?
A properly funded Revocable (“Living”) Trust can be a valuable and important part of the estate plan for many people, but it does not eliminate the need for a Will. If you have a Living Trust, you will still need a Will to dispose of those assets that have not or cannot be placed into the Trust.

As useful as they are, Living Trusts are not appropriate for everyone. Only your lawyer can tell you if you should consider one, and only you lawyer should prepare it.

10. Who Should Draft Your Will?
A person who drafts a Will must be familiar with the law in order to avoid the many pitfalls and to comply with the formalities necessary to assure the Will’s validity. Only a practicing lawyer is professionally qualified to give you advice regarding your Will, to prepare your Will, and to supervise it’s signing.

A Few More Practical Suggestions:

More Than 70% of Americans Die Without Leaving Behind a Will
Planning your financial affairs, and coordinating this with your estate plan, is a very personal and individual matter. You should decide for yourself the general purpose you wish to accomplish, and then consult with a
seasoned estate planning attorney, financial advisor, and CPA if you want to have a coordinated and comprehensive plan, which integrates and accomplishes all of your financial goals and objectives.

Four practical steps to save time and help assure a sound result:

1. Inventory you assets. List in reasonable detail all of your property, real and personal, life insurance policies, and retirement plans, with your best assessment of their values.

2. Inventory your liabilities. List all debts and obligations, including principal amounts, payees, and essential terms.

3. List your family members and any other persons whom you wish to participate in your estate. Decide who might be an appropriate executor, trustee, or guardian for your minor children.

4. Decide what you want to accomplish. Determine what your objectives are, and to whom you wish your assets distributed.

Getting Started is Easy:

It just takes five easy steps, where your only cost will be your time:

Step One: Spend some time with your existing financial advisor, or an experienced financial advisor in your local area, so you can review the basic details your “big picture financial plan” together

Step Two: Your financial advisor will review this information and help you assess confirm exactly what your estate planning needs and preferences are

Step Three: Once your financial advisor reviews your overall estate planning needs, they can help you understand exactly how Wills and Trusts work, as well as which one they feel fits your situation best

Step Four: After you are fully comfortable and confident with their recommendation, you can consult with a seasoned estate planning attorney who can help you properly draft these documents and details

Step Five: Arguably the most important step, and often overlooked, is making sure that your estate planning attorney, financial advisor, and CPA are all working together to ensure all of your estate plans and preferences are coordinated and working properly with your “big picture financial plan”.

Coping with Grief While Going Back to College

Most people who begin their grief journey want straight facts. They want to know such things as what to expect, how long will the grief last, etc. College students are no exception. However, college students are in a unique niche of No- Longer-a-Teenager but not quite considered an adult as they are not melded into the working world.  Should you need it, here are some quick tips to print off and give to a grieving college student.

1. Most people grieve anywhere from three to seven years. The average grief cycle lasts around three years. Some people say that the second year of grief is harder than the first year of grief, but this is not always the case.

2. You may find yourself crying on and off for the next three years. Don’t try to fight the tears, rather let them flow. Tears are your body’s way of helping you cope with grief. Tears actually release chemicals into your system that help you feel better.

3. Even if you don’t feel like it, try to eat three meals a day. They don’t have to be huge and they should be “healthy for you” food. Try to limit the amount of sugar and empty calories you take into your body. Grieving is probably the hardest job you will every do. It is demanding physically, mentally and emotionally. Because of this high demand, your body needs energy that comes from solid healthy food. Cut out the caffeine if possible, limit the amount of alcohol you take into your system and drink as much water as you can get down a day. Think of this as if you were training for a really big physical event. (Like the Olympics!)

4. Talk, talk and talk some more. Typically, you are going to find that people want to talk to you and listen to you for the first few weeks and months. Then most people don’t know what to say, or don’t want to listen anymore–all for a host of reasons. You probably will get to the point where people ask you how you are doing and you will say” I am fine”. Try to find people to talk to about your loss who are willing to listen. Talking does you a world of good.  Journaling is also a great tool. One of the services offered at Beyond Indigo contains a private journal no one can access except you.

5. Be aware that you will have to be the one educating people on how to help you while you are grieving. This is ironic since you are the one that needs the support, not the other way around but, nevertheless, this tends to be a fact in our society. We are not socialized to talk about death. We are socialized to talk about boyfriends, our future children, weddings, etc. but not death. Therefore, people have no clue what to say. They mean well and are trying, but they may say the things that are not helpful to you. It is okay to say something like, “Listen, I know you mean well and are trying to help, but telling me my father is in heaven doesn’t make me feel better. What makes me feel better is______.  (fill in the blank with how you feel, or what you would like to hear.)

6. Taking care of you during school will be a big task. Your life now is very different. You know this, however, other people may not. They may not understand how your world has changed dramatically. Focusing on schoolwork might be more difficult. Make sure to give yourself permission to change your study habits if you need to. It is okay if you don’t socialize like you did before. Figure out what little things help you during the day, such as a soothing bath at night, or listening to special music. Make sure to tell your professors of your loss. Especially be aware that you might need to explain to them that you might have trouble concentrating. There might be some arrangement that you can make to take tests on a different day if the scheduled day of testing proves to be too emotionally difficult for you. Teachers will understand if you tell them ahead of time.

7. It never hurts to find a therapist on campus or in town who can be there to help monitor you through this time. You’ll need a therapist who will listen and give you ideas to put in your “tool box” to help you communicate with peers, to help you adjust to your family’s new roles with your loved one gone and to help you get through this year of school. Though you may feel you want a therapist that just listens and says, “Right, okay then, we will see you next week”, in the long run this will not be quite as helpful as a therapist that help you develop communication skills and action plans. If you go to a therapist and find that you do not “bond” with him/her or feel comfortable in his/her presence it is totally legit to terminate your sessions and seek another therapist that will feel like a comfortable “fit”.

8. If you are not sleeping at night you need to go see the doctor on campus or in town to help you sleep. Sleep is hugely important to keep up your strength.

Remember to take care of “you” first and then school and everything else will become easier to manage. Good luck on your new learning experience!

Are you looking for others with whom you can relate? Visit the Beyond Indigo forums to connect with others who are on their grief journeys.

© 2010 Kelasan, Inc.

The Purpose of a Grief Coach

When a family or individual is grieving and have important decisions to make under much duress, they often need a large degree of emotional support.  A Grief Recovery Specialist and Life Coach can help.

Here are Five Ways a Grief Coach Can Help:

• Grief Coaching can offer the support a family or individual needs to get through a sorrowful time.




• A coach can help families develop a short term, “What’s next”, plan for their lives.




• A coach can help families establish new or revised long term life goals pertaining to work, school, relationships, hobbies and general wellness.




• A coach can provide families with hope, motivation and direction to take control of their lives in the new role that they inherited as a result of their loss.




• A coach is someone who listens – Sometimes that is what is most needed in a time of sorrow and confusion.

Coaching is one of the fastest growing trends in self improvement, wellness and life in general.

For more information about Grief Coaching, visit Next Stage Coaching.