An Important Topic - No One Wants to Discuss

little tip. If you pay close attention to the program, it's about every time the question and answer come up during each week's program, and again you can learn more online classfinancial dot com. They're telping Mrs six so week four four, two, five, six, three seven. This week we are going to be talking about kind of a topic. It's an important a topic but a lot of folks don't always want to talk about, which is funeral planning. We're going to get into that in just a moment.

But first I mentioned the class quiz question the week. Let's actually take a look back at last week's program and get the question an answer there as well.

get connected right there. As mentioned, we're going to be talking about funeral planning and of course when you guys are working with folks in retirement planning, it's a big important topic that comes up. Can you tell us why it's something folks should be considering ahead of time?

out what's going on now. Obviously, one of the benefits of working with a good financial advisor is that hopefully they are keeping track of your kind of big picture finances where everything is approximate values of all of it. So that certainly helped the family. But you know, if you think this through, that's an element that the family will care about. But if you suddenly pass away and there are no funeral arrangements. I will just tell you this is another one of those areas where your family

can end up infighting. Right, You've got the one child who says, well, I think mom and dad would have just wanted us to cremate them and like, you know, just move on. And then you've got the other child who goes, I don't know what they wanted. I never talked to them, but we need to do something. And then you've got the third child who said mom and dad had so much money, we can just pay for the thing ourselves, and even if it's eighty thousand dollars,

let's just do it. Well, I mean, imagine if that's you. Imagine if you're one of those children. That's tough because one, you know how relationships are inside of families with siblings. It's like one is like the penny pincher and the other is the spending on everything, running out of money. And so I think you get the idea. It is important to not only focus on getting your basic estate

planning documents, order wills, trust, powers of attorney. Those are good, and we have entire shows we have dedicated to that topic. But beyond that, it is the actual structure of what you want to have play out when you die. I think funeral flowers, even I've seen people do music and

pictures and everything. All of that is predetermined so that when you pass away, it is just the children carrying out those wishes, which is typically most of this has already been paid for by then, instead of having the children have to make all those decisions on your behalf. Now, I don't know about you. I don't love the idea of, you know, pre planning my death and what that what

that service is going to look like. However, I will tell you now from working with people and getting to see this play out, unfortunately, it is another one of the best gifts you can give to your children is just to say, you know what, we want to be buried here here, We've already got the plots. We either want to be cremated or we don't want to be cremated. We want you know, we've already pre paid for the funeral arrangements with the food and the flowers and the stuff.

And here's a couple of songs we want played. You guys figure out the rest. You get the point that is eighty percent of it right there, Okay, Now, with all this being said, we're going to go through some practical steps you can take to actually plan for your funeral arrangements. But I should begin by giving you a disclaimer.

We are not funeral directors. Obviously, we know a lot about estate planning and financial planning, but we don't handle the actual contracts to establish a funeral plan with a you know, a plot and a headstone and all of that. So you will want to actually talk to good local funeral homes or funeral directors, advanced planning specialists. There's a lot of different names for them, but they can actually help you pre pay for these items. So within this context,

let's give you some steps to take. Step number one would be on deciding on final arrangements, like would you like to be buried, cremated, or donate your body to science. Each option comes with some choices. If you want to be buried, you'll need to decide on a casket, a burial plot, and service details. If you want to be cremated, think about where your ashes will be kept or scattered.

As you know, some people will take their ashes to a particular country or a state, or an ocean whatever that can be nice or generous for you to have planned out prior to your death. A twenty twenty four National Funeral Directors Association Consumer Preferences survey found that cost effectiveness is like fifty four and a half percent, simplicity is forty two and a half percent, and personal preference twenty four percent were among the top reasons people choose

cremation over a burial. So different percentages attached to different things here, but you get the idea. People will often choose cremation because they view it as cost effective, simple, or it's just a personal preference. In twenty twenty four, the cremation rate was expected to be sixty one point nine percent compared to a burial rate of thirty three point two and so and by the way, by the year twenty forty five, they expect cremations to reach about

eighty two point one percent. So listen, I think there used to be burial rates where you know, buried in a casket was super super high and very few people got cremated. We're actually seeing those numbers start to shift, and funeral homes and funeral directors are aware of this and they can accommodate all of those elements based upon your wishes. We're also seeing things like donation to science. This requires arrangements way ahead of time with an accredited program,

but that's another great option. We've seen people who get cremated and then actually are buried in an urned that's part of a tree, and so there's like these kind of organic tree farms that are actually people's ashes that were put and it's pretty cool. I think all of these things are great options. You see the idea, don't you just on the final arrangements of what's to happen with your body. We've talked about four different options. I'll bet each one of your children has their own strong

opinion about which one that should be. Don't leave it to them to make that decision. Try to plan some of this on your own.

It's a great weekly email. Got a little snapshot of what's going on in the markets. Also linked to the most recent podcasts I get it. You should subscribe as well. Just head on over to classfinancial dot com. That's Class k l a A s FI finance dot com. You can also learn more about the team there. You can also learn about the separate divisions of Coss Financial how they can help you or if you an employer. Again, all that information available to you at Cossfinancial dot com.

There telephone number six soh eight four four two five six three seven. No charge for the initial get to know you appointment at Coss Financial. It will be complementary to you again. Their number six oh eight four four two five six three seven looks in your conversation with c gen Eric. We'll do that next as Money in Motion with Coss Financial continues right here on thirteen ten wi b A. This is money in Motion with Coss Financial right here thirteen ten WUIBA chatting this morning with CJ.

Coss and Eric Schwartz, a retirement planning professionals from Coss Financial. The website costs Financial dot com. That's COSS k l aas Financial dot com. Great website. Hope you get a chance to check that out. If not, head on over there later today. While you're there, sign up for the weekly Market Pulse newsletter. There telephone number six oh eight four four two five six three seven. No charge for that initial get to know you appointment at COSS Financial.

It will be complementary you again their number six so eight four four two five six three seven. Talking this week about the importance of planning ahead when it comes to making funeral arrangements. And I got that first step of course, putting together those final arrangements from CJ and Erica. Let's bring you in on this conversation. I see the funeral market is valued. It hits some substantial number twenty billion dollars annually. That means understanding cost and options pretty important.

What do people need to know there, Well.

green burials. So about sixty eight percent of Americans and twenty four which was up from sixty percent just the year before, are now interested in environmentally friendly options such as biodegradable caskets and other natural burials. CJ was talking about these these places where people who a group's people that are interested in this are are kind of coming together to be to be laid to rest in similar places working on sustainability. There's a large center out in

Verona here locally that does that. So that is a big, a big shift in the industry that we're seeing. The other one that's that's pretty common and probably won't surprise people is virtual services. So since COVID nineteen, many funeral homes now offer live streaming options. This just makes it easier for you know, distant family members to participate, and it's definitely something that we're seeing grow in popularity. But let's talk about those costs. Costs can obviously vary widely.

The median cost of a funeral in the US in twenty twenty four was eight thousand, three hundred dollars, while average burial costs were between seven and ten thousand dollars. Now, if you're talking about cremation, that's more like between fifteen hundred and five thousand. But as you can see, not not cheap. In Wisconsin, the average burial costs around eighty two hundred dollars, while a full service cremation is about

sixty one hundred dollars. Some of the things you need to be thinking about, you know, when it comes to you know, we see these big numbers, it's like, well,

what is that actually paying for? What is that covering that's going to be covering things like the funeral home fees, the casket or the urn, the burial plot are hearsed, flowers and staff services, and what we actually see, and this may not surprise people, but we see many families kind of unintentionally overspending because they're you know, they're in they're in a time of greef. They feel that it's

the time pressure to get things figured out. So it's just another reason that's planning a head can only help the situation and The other thing that we see a lot is generally in an effort to whether make things more efficient or easier to pull together, or you know, maybe it's even earn some more money. We see a lot of times funeral homes will sell things in packages.

And what this can do is, yes, it may make things a little bit simpler, but it also ends up putting people in position to pay for a lot of things that maybe they didn't want or need. So consumers should be aware that the Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule ensures transparency and it allows you to choose only the goods and services you want and receive price information upfront, and it ensures that you aren't pressured into unnecessary purchases

or services when you're making funeral arrangements. So it can, yes, be more work in a time of like I said, grief and just feeling rushed. But do you have the option to not just buy off the shelf, you know, the whole the whole package that maybe includes a whole lot of things that that you don't want or need.

know your appointment tech Loss Financial. It will be complimentary to you again their number six oh eight four four two five six three seven. Sorry about that, Eric, before I interrupted you. I know you want to talk a little bit about the costs, don't you.

cost of a funeral. You could have a savings plan, so just setting aside money monthly can work if you're disciplined, but if you pass away before reaching your savings goal your family may need to cover the difference. You can also set aside a separate bank account that a trusted family member could access with funds that are set aside

specifically for the future need. There are pre need contracts, so some funeral homes will let you pre pay for your services, and this is obviously very convenient, but payments are often required within three to five years, and they can be costly even if you're on like a payments plan. And then finally, estate funds right, so you could rely

on a state assets to pay for the funeral. It's not always ideal since you know, especially if things are going through probate, it can take a while to access funds, but just using funds from your estate to pay for a funeral is also an option.

more about the team at Class Financial separate divisions. You can sign up also for the weekly Market Pulse newsletter again that available to you at Cossfinancial dot com. That's k l aa S financial dot com. There tell for what number six o eight four four two five six three seven. No charge for that initial get to know your appointment at Coss Financial. It will be complimentary to you again their number six oh eight four four two five six three seven. Put some of the stuff into action.

We'll also head on over to the Money and Motion listener question corner and have the Class quiz question leak for you. We will do that next as Money in Motion with Coss Financial continues right here on thirteen ten w U I b A. This is Money in Motion with Coss Financial right here thirteen ten double U I b A. Mention the website Coss Financial dot com. That's Coss k l a as Financial dot Com. I'll be at a chance to stop by the side. If not, head on over there later today. Don't forget. You can

listen back to this in previous shows podcasts. Also learn more about Class Financial again all online. That website Coss Financial dot com that's colss hey l AA S financial dot Com at twelve number six So eight four, four, two, five, six three seven talking about funeral planning this week on the program, and we talk about the costs and way to pay the ways to pay? Are their steps and what are some of those steps that folks can be taking to complete their funeral planning and really help out

their family members. C.

statements they'd like to make. Step number three specify burial or cremation plans. So, if you prefer burial, consider buying a burial plot. If you prefer cremation, then decide where you would like your ashes to go. Number four, figure out your service preferences. Do you want a formal memorial a celebration of life or something unique. Just write it down. Step five create a contact list, so provide names and

numbers of people who should be notified. That's a big one, by the way, that's a really big one, right because people will say, hey, you know, when I die, I'll find everything, and then my kids will My kids will figure it out, and you goo figure out what they don't know who you know, they don't They don't know who you want to have have you know, notified and then invited. But you get the idea, So create a conduct list, and then you know. Final Step number six

is keep documents accessible. Store these details in a safe place, physical or digital, and let a trusted family no member know where they're located. And when we say documents, we're talking like your estate plans, wills, trust, powers of attorneys, along with these written instructions we're talking about because every once in a while, somebody does all the work to do this and then the kids go, there's this safe We can't help it up. I shouldn't be laughing. It's

actually very not a laughable event. It's pretty horrible. But you get the idea. Just so just make sure those are those are six good steps to go through. If you don't remember them or couldn't write them down, don't worry. We podcast this and put it up on our website. You can go back to those six steps. But if you just follow those six steps, you should, you know, have a kind of a clearly laid out plan after your passing.

getting the website Coss financial dot com great opportunity. If you've got a question you'd like answered on the program, you can always email the program s. Head on over to cossfinancial dot com and submit your question for the Money and Money in Motion listener question corner. As a matter of fact, Alisha, she wrote in this week, she says, I'm forty years old and would love to retire in my mid fifties. What steps should I take now to help make that a reality.

And this is good for everybody to hear if you are interested in retiring early, and we would define early retirement as anything before sixty five. Sixty five is when Medicare kicks on. You're close typically close to your full retirement age for Social Security, so sixty five is kind of the most common retirement. If you plan on retiring early, which is any time before that, you're gonna really need to plan, especially Alicia, if we're talking mid fifties, that's

almost a decade earlier. As you can imagine, you're going to have to be quite intentional. So here's some things to consider. Number one would be define your retirement goals, so estimate your desired lifestyle and retirement expected expenses, potential income sources, consider different factors like travel and inflation and all that. Number two would be to maximize retirement contribution.

So if you really plan on retiring early, contribute, contribute, contribute to save as much as you possibly can into like iras four to one case things like that. Now, interestingly enough, the next step is because of oversaving into the wrong we'll call it registration type. So as much as we love those retirement accounts, sometimes they can have restrictions where you can't touch them before age fifty nine

and a half without a penalty. So obviously, if you want to retire at say fifty five fifty four, you're going to have to think about not only saving aggressively into retirement accounts, but potentially saving aggressively into what we call taxable brokerage accounts or roth iras, things like that. And then, obviously, Alisha, if you're forty years old, you're going to want to think about investing for growth because you've got about fifteen years until you want to retire.

I'm guessing fifteen years. You didn't say exactly when in your mid fifties, but let's say fifteen years. That gives you enough time to be focused on growing your portfolio, which would be a diversified mixt of equities. Also, Alicia, you're going to want to eliminate debt prior to retirement. And some people don't get this, but I will just encourage you for us. Retirement and retirement planning is not a concept. We live it and breathe it every single day.

And what I will encourage you is I get to retire thousands of times, meaning like with my clients, I see it happen all the time. And one just undeniable truth is that retiring without debt brings a lot less stress, and even even being able to step into retirement with

debt is really hard for a lot of people. So plan on eliminating your debt before you retire, and then consider make sure you're considering healthcare related costs because obviously if you're retiring before sixty five, you got to get gap insurance up until Medicare and then finally you know, run some projections of this adjust regularly and just make sure you stay on top of it, so Alicia, there's kind of are synthesized in a nutshell things to consider

if you want to retire in your mid fifties. And I'll add one thing at the end, you're probably gonna want to work with a financial planner. I know that sounds like we're trying to, you know, push you towards our organization. We're really not. Just you're probably going to want to meet with a qualified financial advisor or retirement special list because retiring that early is quite complicated, and so you just might want to get a partner in that process.

Again the number six oh eight four four two five six three seven. You want to hold on to that telephone number because It's time now for the Closs Quiz Question the Week. It works like this, just a moment, I'll ask you the Class Quiz question the week. If you are the first qualth correct answer, you win this week's prize twenty five dollars gift card. Again Class Quiz

Question Week. Is this true or false? In the United States, approximately twenty just pardon me, approximately two point four million funerals take place each year. Is that true or is that false? Telephone number six o eight four four two five six three seven. First call correct answer win this week's Pride Guy. I gotta tell phone number six oh eight four four two five sixty three seven. Of course, that's Class Financial Office right here in Madison. That number

six oh eight four four two five six three seven. CJ.

advisor representative and not necessarily the opinion of COSS. Financial News comes your way next right here on thirteen ten wib A