Parents Getting Up There? How to Buy Burial Insurance for Seniors

While a fair amount of policyholders are paying too much for life insurance, many of them aren't getting enough when it comes to their policies. If your parents are getting older, it's important for you to start thinking about how much they're going to get for what they're paying. Extending their insurance with burial insurance for seniors gives you substantial value for what you're paying.

If you're looking to buy insurance for them or get them to extend their policy, here is what you need to do.

Getting to Know Burial Insurance

When you're trying to cover the cost of a funeral and the expenses related to one, it's frustrating to try to imagine how you're going to pay for it. It's hard to know when you're getting a "good price" and who wants to be thinking about bargains and discounts when you're mourning a loved one?

It's a confusing time for everyone, which is why life insurance was created in the first place. Burial insurance is a type of life insurance that ensures this particular element of preparation is taken care of.

There are several key differences between life insurance and burial insurance. The most overt one is that claims need to be related to funeral and cemetery costs specifically. There are some variations beyond these limits, however.

With some policies, you can take any excess funds and spend them on any hospital bills you have or excess expenses you've' incurred. You'll have to wait until the end of the payout until you can do this but check with your insurance company to see if they offer this benefit.

These are of course hard conversations to have with family, but nonetheless important.

Why You'd Buy It for Your Parents

Retirement has changed drastically in the last few decades. An increasing number of people are retiring without the amount of money saved for retirement. Trying to save the money you need is challenging as living expenses only increase as you get older.

Since a large number of retirees aren't sure they have the funds they need to go on after they retire, many more don't even think about thsoe post-death expenses. Even families with a lot of retirement savings could run into debt if they need full-time care. Going into a nursing home could quickly drain the amount of money that's in a retirement or savings account that seniors worked hard for.

The number of people over 80 years old who are still working at least part-time is constantly rising.

If you can cover any of the elements of your parents' expenses while they're still alive, you should. It could be much more feasible to start putting money down for their funeral expenses now than trying to get it together later.

Even if your parents have life insurance, look into the benefits that come with it. There could be an inexpensive option for extending coverage for burial expenses. Rather than letting these expenses sneak up on you, you can prepare for them in advance.

Start the Conversation

When it comes time to make these changes for your loved ones, you need to start the conversation as soon as possible. While you might be a little sensitive to talking about matters of life and death with the people you love, it's vital to do it as soon as possible. Waiting until someone is sick or when things get bad ensures you have a challenging and emotional conversation at the worst time.

Plan to speak about these things over the course of a few weeks or months. Don't try to work out the details all in one sitting. The conversation is going to become more difficult as your parent ages or if they get sick.

You both need to digest the information that each of you has for one another. It will take a few steps and a fair amount of time. There are going to be times when it makes sense to have this conversation and times when it doesn't.

Think carefully before you start the conversation.

Make It a Broad Conversation

While this is going to be a personal issue to talk about, you need to think about the issue as free of emotion as possible. It's a difficult line to walk, being sensitive to your parents' feelings while not getting too upset. Even families who are comfortable talking about death might not feel comfortable letting you pay for their expenses.

Loop other family members into the conversation if necessary. Ask for help from brother and sisters if you have them. Ask them about pitching in a portion of the money to ensure that you can afford the premium and so it's not all on your shoulders.

Get them involved in the conversation with your parents. When you're trying to fill in those gaps in conversation, they can help to keep things from getting too emotional.

Burial Insurance for Seniors Is a Great Investment

If you're considering burial insurance for seniors as a way to mitigate those post-death costs, you're thinking intelligently. It's hard to have this conversation and to start making these decisions, but they're vital to getting through those tough times.

If you're looking to review their costs for health insurance, follow our guide to helping make better decisions about that too.