There’s an old Greek proverb that states, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” It speaks to our desire to leave this world better than it was when we were in it, to not burden the future with issues left unattended or undone. And as we grow old, many think about their passing. They look at how they can be as a little burden to their family as possible. If they cannot leave large wills, then at least they can think of reducing the financial and emotional difficulty their families will face when they eventually depart.
Money matters
Dying is expensive. It seems strange that as you prepare for your passing, so much attention needs to go into money matters, but the fact is that, on average, dying will cost the family or the person $7,360, and maybe the best way to approach this is with some humor. There’s the cost of the coffin, funeral services, such as embalming, and other requirements. Then there’s the Estate Tax, that needs to be paid before you can pass any worldly goods in a will. All this comes before any bills that may have been accrued during any hospital treatment. Given that if you don’t sort this out, your family will have to. It’s best to get this out of settle this before the time comes.
Life insurance goes a long way in covering most of these expenses. However, if you’d like to go for something cheaper that will also cover these expenses, some insurance marketing companies have final expense life insurance, which is generally less expensive than full life insurance.
Final expense insurance can sometimes cover over what will be required for a funeral. That can go to your family, who can spend it any way they see fit, so you could leave them something to take the sting out of a sad time. That is not to be sniffed at, especially if some members of the family need support and which family doesn’t have a least one member who could use some help?
What’s important
Once money matters are taken care of, you can start thinking about preparing family and friends. By this, you don’t necessarily need to have a prolonged pre-passing mourning period where you keep reminding everyone you could go at any moment. It would probably be more positive to just engage as much as you can, on a personal level with the people you love. It is easier said than done if people, as they tend to be nowadays, are too busy, but a little persistence and not taking no for an answer could do wonders.
It’s a widely held belief that the more engaged you are with family, friends, and your community, the healthier you probably are, both mentally and physically. Reaching out near the end may prolong your life; it could certainly make it more meaningful.
As your thoughts turn to the future after you’ve gone, save more than a little for yourself. The race isn’t done yet, and there’s still quite a lot of life left to live.
