Published: Sunday, November 29, 2009
High cost of dying forces bereaved to shop for bargains
As a lifelong bargain hunter, I’ve always joked that I wanted my gravestone to read: “Final Sale, No Return.”
But with funeral prices averaging $7,000 or more, the cost of dying is no laughing matter. Even the savviest consumer finds it tough to comparison-shop when coping with grief and loss.
When my parents died several years ago (they passed away within several weeks of each other), the idea of hunting for the best funeral deals was just too hard. Luckily, my thrifty mom and dad had planned ahead. No pricey services, no expensive caskets or burial plots.
Instead, they’d requested we hold simple farewell gatherings and have their bodies cremated. We followed their wishes and, as funerals expenses go, came in under the national average.
I’ve learned since that we could have saved more.
Across the country, people concerned about the high cost of dying are exploring a range of cost-cutting alternatives. For many, it’s a necessity.
In areas particularly hard hit by the recession, death is a cost some can’t fit into the budget. Recently, The New York Times reported that bodies are going unclaimed at morgues because families can’t afford burials, leaving the cost of cremation or interment to cash-strapped towns and municipalities.
“When you can’t afford the cost of living, you certainly can’t afford the cost of dying,” says Joshua Slocum, director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a nonprofit funeral industry watchdog organization. “We’re hearing from funeral directors and consumers that the economy is affecting choices. People are planning ahead. They’re reconsidering long-held traditions for simpler, more personalized funerals.”
“The economy is directing people to look for less expensive alternatives for everything, including funerals,” says Luke DiMaria, owner of Abby Funeral & Cremation Service Inc. in Rocky Hill, Conn. “It’s one of the reasons cremations have become much more popular.”
In 2005, nearly 35 percent of Connecticut deaths ended in cremation, according to the National Funeral Directors Association, which projects that number will increase to about 40 percent in 2010.
DiMaria’s licensed funeral business specializes in direct burials and direct cremations. Fees start at $2,995 for a direct burial. Direct cremation costs $995. The cost includes transfer of the body, necessary paperwork and burial or cremation after Connecticut’s mandated 48-hour waiting period. No embalming, viewing or memorial ceremonies, and cemetery charges are included. (All funeral homes offer direct-burial funeral and direct cremation, but few advertise the services.)
Retail giant Wal-Mart announced recently that it had added caskets ($895 to $2,899) and urns ($150 to $215) to its retail Web site. The warehouse club Costco has been selling caskets ($924 to $3,000) and urns ($50 to $200) online for about five years. (Federal law requires all funeral homes to accept caskets purchased elsewhere.) Costco and Sam’s Club stores sell “Sympathy Flowers,” such as casket sprays and funeral wreaths. Prices range from $175 to $350, delivery included.
George D’Esopo of D’Esopo Funeral Home in Wethersfield, Conn., a family-owned business since 1905, says that so far, the economy has not significantly affected the types of funerals families here are seeking.
“We still find that people, for the most part, have prepared for funeral expenses, either with insurance or by saving,” says D’Esopo. “When there are special circumstances or people are in a financial bind, we work with them.”
But even in the Land of Steady Habits, sacrosanct funeral rituals and purchases are changing. Cremations have increased, and this year, D’Esopo’s has experienced about half a dozen families who have purchased caskets online. “So far, it’s been a very small percentage,” says D’Esopo. “That may change as the generation of folks more comfortable with purchasing online gets older.”
But with funeral prices averaging $7,000 or more, the cost of dying is no laughing matter. Even the savviest consumer finds it tough to comparison-shop when coping with grief and loss.
When my parents died several years ago (they passed away within several weeks of each other), the idea of hunting for the best funeral deals was just too hard. Luckily, my thrifty mom and dad had planned ahead. No pricey services, no expensive caskets or burial plots.
Instead, they’d requested we hold simple farewell gatherings and have their bodies cremated. We followed their wishes and, as funerals expenses go, came in under the national average.
I’ve learned since that we could have saved more.
Across the country, people concerned about the high cost of dying are exploring a range of cost-cutting alternatives. For many, it’s a necessity.
In areas particularly hard hit by the recession, death is a cost some can’t fit into the budget. Recently, The New York Times reported that bodies are going unclaimed at morgues because families can’t afford burials, leaving the cost of cremation or interment to cash-strapped towns and municipalities.
“When you can’t afford the cost of living, you certainly can’t afford the cost of dying,” says Joshua Slocum, director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a nonprofit funeral industry watchdog organization. “We’re hearing from funeral directors and consumers that the economy is affecting choices. People are planning ahead. They’re reconsidering long-held traditions for simpler, more personalized funerals.”
“The economy is directing people to look for less expensive alternatives for everything, including funerals,” says Luke DiMaria, owner of Abby Funeral & Cremation Service Inc. in Rocky Hill, Conn. “It’s one of the reasons cremations have become much more popular.”
In 2005, nearly 35 percent of Connecticut deaths ended in cremation, according to the National Funeral Directors Association, which projects that number will increase to about 40 percent in 2010.
DiMaria’s licensed funeral business specializes in direct burials and direct cremations. Fees start at $2,995 for a direct burial. Direct cremation costs $995. The cost includes transfer of the body, necessary paperwork and burial or cremation after Connecticut’s mandated 48-hour waiting period. No embalming, viewing or memorial ceremonies, and cemetery charges are included. (All funeral homes offer direct-burial funeral and direct cremation, but few advertise the services.)
Retail giant Wal-Mart announced recently that it had added caskets ($895 to $2,899) and urns ($150 to $215) to its retail Web site. The warehouse club Costco has been selling caskets ($924 to $3,000) and urns ($50 to $200) online for about five years. (Federal law requires all funeral homes to accept caskets purchased elsewhere.) Costco and Sam’s Club stores sell “Sympathy Flowers,” such as casket sprays and funeral wreaths. Prices range from $175 to $350, delivery included.
George D’Esopo of D’Esopo Funeral Home in Wethersfield, Conn., a family-owned business since 1905, says that so far, the economy has not significantly affected the types of funerals families here are seeking.
“We still find that people, for the most part, have prepared for funeral expenses, either with insurance or by saving,” says D’Esopo. “When there are special circumstances or people are in a financial bind, we work with them.”
But even in the Land of Steady Habits, sacrosanct funeral rituals and purchases are changing. Cremations have increased, and this year, D’Esopo’s has experienced about half a dozen families who have purchased caskets online. “So far, it’s been a very small percentage,” says D’Esopo. “That may change as the generation of folks more comfortable with purchasing online gets older.”
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