You plan for everything in life — birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, vacations, homes, retirement, and much more. Why shouldn’t you also plan for final wishes? While no one likes to think about their own death, the fact remains that, one day, your family will need to make dozens of hard decisions to arrange your final life tribute.
They will want to celebrate you in death just as they celebrated you in life. They will want to gather together, offer support to one another, remember you, and honor your legacy. Even if you don’t want a big fuss, the fact still remains: Someone will be responsible for making funeral plans for you. But why couldn’t that person be you?
You may not know that it is possible to plan a funeral, memorial, or cremation in advance. Planning ahead for funeral wishes not only ensures that your final wishes are recorded, it also alleviates the burdens that fall on loved ones at the time of loss. Think about it. In those moments after hearing that you have died, your family will be distraught, grief-stricken, and possibly numb with shock. It will be hard enough to make even a simple decision like what to wear to the funeral—much less to plan a service that they feel good about and that does justice to the life that you’ve lived. That’s a lot of pressure!
Let’s take some of that pressure off…
A well-thought-out celebration of life helps to remove a lot of the stress, anxiety, and doubt that often plagues newly bereaved families. If you have ever lost a loved one, you know that planning ahead is actually an incredibly thoughtful gift of love!
Let’s look at some of the main reasons people decide to plan ahead for their funeral
- Funeral planning can actually save your family money. When most people are called upon to plan a funeral, they are doing so for the first time in their lives. Because of this, they don’t know very much about how to keep costs from ballooning and often end up with a pretty pricey funeral they have to put on a credit card or dip into savings to pay for. If your family knows exactly what your wishes are, they generally are able to save considerably by avoiding unnecessary spending. Click here to learn more about how to save money with a funeral plan.
- Funeral planning allows your family to spend more time together. At the time of loss, the last thing family members want to do is spend several hours at a funeral home making arrangements. With a plan in place that outlines your wishes for a final tribute, your family is able to spend more time together, offering comfort, support, and love to one another at a time when they need it most.
- Funeral planning helps to avoid arguments. The loss and burial of a loved one is a very emotional time, and if a family is torn about which options to choose, emotions can tend to run high. Even when a general consensus is reached, family members can sometimes continue to feel anxiety, doubt, and regret about the decisions that were made and how they were made. However, when family members know exactly what you want, they experience greater peace knowing that they are honoring your final wishes.
- Funeral planning brings peace of mind even before you die. Have you ever completed a big project and just felt a weight lift off your shoulders? That’s what it feels like when you finally take that step and plan ahead for your funeral wishes. Not only does it bring you peace of mind, but it can also bring comfort to family members who know that they won’t have to face those difficult decisions on one of the worst days of their lives.
Keep in mind that a well-planned final tribute offers all of these benefits and more without the need to pay for services or merchandise ahead of time. While paying for the funeral in advance helps your family even more from a financial standpoint, it is not entirely necessary to reap the rewards of planning ahead. It is important not to let finances get in the way of planning ahead as much as you are able to. You can always consider your payment options later. For the time being, your best source for information on planning ahead is your local funeral home. Most funeral homes even offer complimentary funeral planning services to the community. Contact your local funeral home today to speak with a qualified, professional funeral planning expert.
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