When Darnell Dies

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.