Financial benefits of pre planning your funeral

It may feel strange thinking about the benefits of pre planning your funeral, especially if you are relatively young and healthy – but it could save your loved ones a lot of extra heartache and financial stress at a time that will already be very difficult. Planning ahead has become increasingly popular in recent times, with 1.3 million people in the UK now having taken out a pre-paid funeral plan and essentially choosing to be financially prepared for when their time comes.

The rising cost of funerals

Since SunLife began tracking the cost of funerals in 2004, the average cost of funerals has increased by a total of 121%. In 2021 alone, 17% of families in the UK experienced notable financial concerns when purchasing a funeral at their time of need and found themselves paying, on average, up to £1,800 by delving into their savings and investments or paying via an alternative route like a credit card. 

According to SunLife, the average cost of a traditional funeral in the UK is currently £4,141. Cremation has also significantly been on the rise as recent studies show a dramatic uptake of 57% in 2021, as it is still proving to be the much more ‘affordable option’ – with average costs for cremation ceremonies at £3,795 and direct cremations at £1,498. 

All data sourced from SunLife

The costs of direct cremation

A direct cremation is the lowest cost funeral option. It is a simple cremation option with no funeral service, ceremony or attendees. In a direct cremation, the individual that has died is still looked after with great care, and the professionals who are present when the cremation takes place will still say a few words to commemorate that person. The ashes of the individual will then be returned to the family to do as they wish, whether it’s scattering them at your favourite place to visit, burying them at your chosen spot or otherwise.

However, there are alternative options available besides a direct cremation that keep the funeral service low-cost. You can also hold an attended cremation which allows a select number of your family or friends to spend around 15-45 minutes commemorating your life before saying goodbye.

The  benefits of pre planning your funeral

There are a number of benefits of pre planning your funeral. Not only does it allow you to make your end-of-life wishes known to your loved ones, but it also gives precious time to your surrounding friends and family to allow them to grieve, taking the emotional stress and financial burden of planning a funeral away from them. That way, they can focus on what matters most: embracing and celebrating your life. 

Experiencing the death of someone we love is often one of the biggest challenges we face in life. Not only are we learning how to navigate a world without them in it, but we are also faced with dealing with trying to arrange a funeral service that they’d be proud of. What songs do we play? What flowers should we have? Who should attend? These decisions, weighted by the heavy burden of grief, can cause added stress to those we love in a time where they need more support than ever.

And as a result, our loved ones can end up spending more on our funeral than we’d like them to. It’s completely natural to want to add little touches here and there to make sure that we’re remembering our loved one in the right way, but these little touches can bring significant costs, and you may prefer that your loved ones save the money on these touches and spend it on something for them to enjoy.

So, the idea and benefits of pre-planning your funeral is to make the process easier for everyone. By arranging your wishes beforehand, there are no questions left unanswered and nothing left unsaid. Not only can this help your loved ones save money on added extras they may feel inclined to purchase in their state of grief, but they can still create a funeral that is meaningful and authentic.

Cost effective funeral options

Opt for a direct cremation

An unattended direct cremation is the lowest cost funeral option, averaging at around £1,498. Whilst the cremation service itself is very simple, it allows your loved ones to put the money they would have spent on the funeral towards celebrating your life in a way that is most meaningful for your family and friends.

Share your end of life wishes in advance

Whether you opt for a pre-paid funeral plan or would simply prefer to write down your preferences, detailing as much as you can about your end-of-life wishes can be a great help to your loved ones.

Consider a unique celebration of life

Your celebration of life can be anything you want it to be. An inexpensive memorial meal at home. A picnic on your favourite hill. A bonfire with the people you love most. Rather than planning a funeral service with traditions that you may feel don’t reflect who you are, perhaps you may want to consider a small celebration of life option instead.

How to pre plan your funeral

If there are any end-of-life wishes you’d like to share with your loved ones, such as where you’d like your ashes scattered, the songs you’d like played at your service or whether you’d like a direct cremation, you can join the Aura Circle to access our free end-of-life planning tools.

These tools allow you to write down any wishes you’d like to share, create a life story that you and your loved ones can contribute to and even schedule messages to send your loved ones on a chosen date. 

The tools are completely free to use and you can access them at any time. To sign up, please click here.