HW 55

 Death is a topic that should be looked into not only because its every where but because its part of life, and one cannot escape the inevitabale. I decided to look at the question of how we put a price tag on death, here in the U.S. When people people think of funerals they usually think of the greiving or the funeral itself, etc. but one thing people must consider is the cost of funerals nowadays. A little over 6000 deaths take place in the U.S a day, which is a lot of deaths. Also most people will be responsible for being incharge of a care of the dead for at least one person in thier life time, so this topic should be of some concern to people. There is a saying that goes "I cant afford to die". Which would be rightly said. An averge funeral in the U.S can cost about $6,500 according to the National Funeral Directors Assosiation. Some funerals have enen hit the numbers of $10,000 after adding in pricing of floral and limo. This by the way is a lot of money all of which is a bit unnessiccary. Isnt it odd that people have been convinced to spend a lot of money on an item that has a one time use, and you or anyone will proberably never see again?

When I heard this I thought that mabe this was a way for people to cope with not being active in the care of thier dead. In the past funerals were done by family, and it never occured to anyone else having to play a hand in the car of thier dead, but nowadys its the exact opposite people cant imagine dealing with thier decesed. Becasue families dealt with death themselves back in the days they were more involved and knew what was suposed to happen and were able to go threw the full experiance of death as a familiy. To day that doesnt happen so I feel that people try to make up for not helping by having big, glamourous, and highly expensive funerals to make up for thier lack of not being able to do much prior.

People can get stuck between a rock and a hard place pretty quickly when it comes to a funeral. In one hand they dont want to rack up debt by paying a large amount of money for a funeral but on the other hand one can feel abliged to pay alot for fear that they are honoring the dead and dont want to seem like they dont care about their loved one. Im not saying to just throw a body somwhere but to consider options.
 You needn't go into debt in order to honor the dead, however. In many parts of the country, a loved one can be laid to rest with dignity for less, by using creativity. Even those who favor a traditional funeral and burial can save hundreds or thousands of dollars by taking a few simple steps. So I thought that instead of me just stating what is wrong I would also show what "can" be done, in order to save money. Here are some steps to follow:

Plan ahead. Talk about death with your spouse and/or parents. Know what they want and commit those wishes to paper. Do they want to be cremated shortly after death with no ceremony? Or do they want a large funeral with a choir -- but absolutely no fancy headstone? Lack of communication is costly.

"There's more psychological baggage surrounding death than any other emotion or life experience -- even sex. And that's why we pay a high price," says Karen Leonard, a researcher for "The American Way of Death Revisited," the update of Jessica Mitford's landmark 1963 muckraking exposé of the funeral industry.

Know your rights. The Federal Trade Commission's "Funeral Rule" requires mortuaries to present a price list of services to consumers before showing them products such as caskets. A new FTC brochure that summarizes your rights is "Paying Final Respects: Your Rights When Buying Funeral Goods and Services." Another detailed but very readable overview is the FTC brochure "Funerals: A Consumer Guide."

Shop around. Many survivors also don't shop around for deals because they consider bargain hunting an affront to the dead. Getting fleeced, however, is hardly a tribute. Even a few quick calls to compare prices once a relative dies can be worthwhile.

"Most people choose a funeral home for the wrong reasons: It's close to their house, or it has served their family in the past," says Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance. "The range of prices offered by various funeral homes for comparable services is incredibly wide."

The same funeral package that costs $6,000 at one mortuary can be $2,500 across town, says Slocum.

The $800 (or less) funeral

Though prices vary widely around the country, consumer advocates say a sub-$800 funeral is possible in most places. It requires cremation, however, which now occurs in about a third of all deaths. Here's how:

Choose "direct cremation." Direct cremation simply means that the deceased is promptly cremated, without a funeral service or viewing. Direct cremation usually includes transport of the body, cremation and a cardboard or plastic container for the ashes. Embalming -- the temporary preservation of the body by injecting chemicals -- is usually unnecessary if the body is promptly cremated. Avoiding this expense can save several hundred dollars.

Be sure to ask whether the cost of direct cremation includes the crematory fee; that can cost an additional several hundred dollars.

Even cremation prices can vary -- a lot. In a 2007 survey of prices at 170 funeral homes in western and central Washington state, the nonprofit People's Memorial Association found that the price for simple cremation in the Seattle area ranged from $425 to more than $2,800.

Select the simplest casket. Buying a $5,000 mahogany casket if a loved one's body is soon to be burned to ashes makes little sense. The Funeral Rule requires a funeral home to offer a cost-effective alternative such as an unfinished coffin or a heavy cardboard enclosure to house the body for its trip to the crematorium, where it will be burned along with the body. Ask for one. No state or local law requires a casket for cremation.

Ask the funeral home if a casket can be rented if the body is to be viewed before cremation.

If the total cost of direct cremation is more than $1,000 or so, even in the most expensive areas, "that's not a fair price," says Slocum. "This is not a lot of work for the funeral director." In many places the price should be closer to $600, Leonard says.

Avoid a big-ticket urn and columbarium. Vessels to store the deceased's ashes can easily cost hundreds -- sometimes thousands -- of dollars.

"Some funeral homes try to guilt families into buying more-expensive urns by stamping 'temporary container' on the outside of the cardboard or plastic box that the remains are returned in," Slocum says.

Don't be pressured into buying a lavish urn, says Lisa Carlson, a consumer advocate and the author of "Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love." Or, eschew an urn for a tasteful piece of pottery or other vessel, Carlson recommends. And scattering the ashes in the ocean or on a favorite mountain -- or simply keeping them at home -- can save thousands of dollars for a burial plot or a columbarium, a building that holds ashes.

Create your own memorial. Elaborate services held in a rented mortuary chapel can be expensive and feel awkward, say Leonard and others. She recommends holding a memorial service, without the body, in a place that meant much to the deceased -- a church, a Fraternal Order of Eagles hall, the family's beach house, a park or an art gallery. Instead of lavish flowers, decorate with mementos that evoke the person's life -- photo albums, Dad's golf clubs, diplomas, perhaps some favorite foods.

Join the Funeral Consumers Alliance or a memorial society. In addition to providing information about funeral options in their area, the 110 memorial societies nationwide that are affiliated with the nonprofit Funeral Consumers Alliance frequently arrange discount funerals with local mortuaries.

For example, for a $25 lifetime membership in the Seattle-area People's Memorial Association, the nation's largest co-op with nearly 100,000 members, a person is able to purchase a $649 direct cremation -- about 50% cheaper than some "list" prices, says former Executive Director Carolyn Hayek. Members also receive discounts on more elaborate options. Tired of high prices, the group even opened a member-owner funeral home recently.

Saying goodbye. Some people need to physically say goodbye to a loved one. That still doesn't necessitate embalming. If relatives live nearby, "it costs nothing to have the family gather around the body at the time of death, as compared to a formal viewing at a funeral home," says Hayek, formerly of People's Memorial Association. If the person dies at home, "you do not have to immediately call the funeral home to pick up the body."

Caskets. One of the best places to save money on funeral services is the casket. No other single item is so expensive. A metal casket today now costs more than $2,000. Go to a funeral home and find an appropriate casket, then call others in town and comparison-shop. Prices can sometimes vary by hundreds of dollars. Skip the caskets with special seals that can raise a casket's price by several hundred dollars; no seal will preserve the dead. Even greater savings can be found by shopping on the Web, where companies will sell the same caskets at less than half the price the funeral homes do and ship the casket to a funeral home overnight or in a few days.

Also consider bypassing high-end metal and wooden coffins entirely. You can purchase a simple, well-crafted pine casket at 5% of the cost of the most opulent polished bronze coffin. It will be more kind to the environment and ultimately will serve the dead just as well.

Clothing. Bury the deceased person in his or her favorite clothes, rather than in a new suit.

Grave liners and vaults. Most cemeteries require that a coffin in a grave must be surrounded by concrete walls so that the ground doesn't settle over time. These "grave liners," though simple, can cost a few hundred dollars. Call funeral homes to find the best price. Don't be pressured into buying a "burial vault," a more extensive liner that can cost much more but is unnecessary, say consumer advocates.

 I also looked at survey numbers  for peoples views on funerals.Other survey findings include the following:
1. Funerals matter more than ever
* 92% of those 40 and older said the funeral industry provides meaning and value to the arrangement process, an increase from 86% in 2004
* 95% said that the service was helpful in paying tribute to or commemorating the life of a loved one, a 6% increase from 2004
* 87% said that the service was an important part in helping them begin the healing process after the death of a loved one, a 9-point increase from 2004
 Why does this matter? This means more and more people are relizing that funerals are important, and if more people are going to have and prepare for funerals they should be knowledge able in this area.
The $11 billion-a-year industry is largely comprised of privately run firms, with 89 percent of all funeral homes being owned by families, individuals or small independent corporations. What this means, that the cost of tradition has just gotten a profit motive. Paul Dwyer, who has worked a consultant on the funeral industry for 25 years, said that although satisfaction rates were high there was evidence that the unique circumstances of its work allowed prices to rise more rapidly than in other services.

"A funeral is a purchase that is often made suddenly – it is very much a distress purchase," he said. "The overwhelming majority of people just go to one funeral director and take the price they are given. People are uncomfortable with shopping around. Customer surveys show that the industry does a fine job - 75 per cent rate the service at eight out of ten or above – but there is just not the commercial pressure, which in turn means that prices creep up."

 Although funeral homes seem to forget that they are dealing with people who would not like to go in debt there are some funerals that listen to peoples respects. Denise Kantor, from Cruse Bereavement, the country’s largest bereavement charity, said people should not overly worry about whether they can afford a funeral. "Most funeral directors will bend over backwards to accommodate your needs because they understand this is not shopping in M&S, they're dealing with real and raw emotions," she said. Although funeral homes are based on a profit motive there are some that relize they are still dealing with greiving people. In school we had a guest vistors come in that work in the funeral field. Although they could only talk for his company in specific they relized this is an emotionally unstable time in the decesed family member's lives, and said thier soul perpose at work is to try to better serve the people and get involved in each case as best as they can. One of them said that they get so involed they she cried at a funeral for which she didnt even no the man personally, but was there emotionally for the wife. In conclusion one should be aware of the options given to them and should not be afraid to dig around a topic that affects most people. Most importantly people should be wise in the way they go about this process(Care of the dead), not only for the decesed but for one self as well.

Citaions:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/PlanYourEstate/HowToPlanAFuneral.aspx
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7762640.stm
http://www.mindbranch.com/Funeral-Homes-Competitive-R237-201/
http://funeralhomecolumbiasc.com/study/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/funeral-costs-jump-but-too-few-will-haggle-1784311.html