Here is my Casket
My first financial lesion that I got from my father was the lesion
concerning Life Insurance. When I was born, he took out a life insurance policy
on my life in case I would die at an early age. Keep in mind, Black children in
the Great Depression had a death rate higher than it is now. My father's sister
died of Yellow Fever in Texas before World War I. This is what he was thinking
about in the 1950s when I was born.
I am wearing my father's suit and keeping my hand on my wallet.
Most people buy life insurance because they do not want their
love ones to pay out of pocket for their funeral. I know many people who had a loss in the
family and had no money to pay for funeral and burial expenses.
However, these people who mean well don't understand the
funeral industry and get an education once their love ones die. In my example,
my father took out a whole life insurance policy on me when d internment cost
less than $400. So if I would have died in the early 1950s, my policy would
have been enough to put me in the ground.
Funeral cost double every 7 years. I just priced my internment
and the cost came out to $11,125 plus the Funeral Director's cost (From the morgue
to the funeral home, working on the body, then to the Church then to the
cemetery.) That can be another $5,000. In 7 years, the cost would be $22,252.
In 14 years we are talking about $44,504. In 21 years, we are talking about $89,008.
In 28 years, we are talking about an interment cost of $178,016. This does not cover
the Funeral Director's expenses.
I do not have to tell you but your pitiful $50,000 or
$100,000 policy will only be a down payment for your funeral cost if you do not
die early.
I followed a different plan!
Since I was given a "heads
up" at 8 years old on cost and
inflation's affect on cost, I started planning a "Self Insurance"
strategy. I always took jobs where my employer
paid or partially paid my Life Insurance policy. Until I retired, most of my
funeral cost was covered by my employer. At the same time, I was putting extra away
in my IRA for funeral cost. As soon as I retired, I did a Cemetery Cost
Analysis at Blue Mountain Cemetery in Lower Paxton, Pa. and planned my burial. I
paid for my funeral and locking in my cost. I paid for such things as my Burial
Space, Burial Vault, Opening/Closing my space, and Casket Selection. I was able to pick out my Memorialization
Stone with my picture on it. That way my grandchildren can come by and say,
"Looking good Pop Pop!"
In the long run, this is cheaper
than gambling on life insurance that may or may not do what you want done.
