Everyone deserves to have a respectful burial that equals their wishes. Whether you want to be buried or cremated, Final Expense insurance plans are available to help pay for those expenses. Many people have no idea how expensive it is to plan a funeral, or the costs for cremation and/or burial. With careful planning, instead of your family creating a GoFundMe account to pay for your cremation, you can have a plan in place and the money to execute it.
Having the right policies in place is not luck, it's careful planning. What if you didn't plan for this, and now, in advancing age or poor health, you are not able to qualify for a regular life insurance policy? This is where Final Expense plans come in place.
Final expense plans will have lower face amounts, or the total that is paid out at the time of death, than traditional life policies. Final expense plans usually start out around $2000 to $5000 for the lowest coverage and top out on average about $25,000. However, some plans do go up to $50,000, but these plans are rare and expensive.
The average age range for Final Expense policies is usually ages 50 to 85, however, some carriers are allowing younger ages, to age 40 and 45. Most of these policies are written as "Guaranteed Issue" which usually means they will cover you, regardless of your health issues, but it will cost you.
Not all Final Expense policies are Guaranteed Issue, there are some that are called Simplified Issue, that only ask a few health questions. As long as all of the answers are what the carrier expects, the policy is issued right away without a medical exam.
Most Final Expense policies do not require any medical exams, but your truthful answers regarding your health history are required. Incomplete or misleading answers will trigger either an underwriter review or cancellation of the policy.
Final expense policies are whole life insurance policies. They do not expire after 30 years like a term policy. These policies are in force for as long as the premiums are paid and the insured is still alive. Like most newer life policies, the endowment age is much later in life.
On average, most life insurance policies now cover the insured up to age 121! If you are lucky enough to live that long, the insurance company pays out the policy to the policy holder on their 121st birthday. Endowment ages used to be age 80, then age 100. Now the endowment age is up to and including age 120. As people live longer, the insurance industry does change to keep people covered longer.