Final Expense Insurance
Protect your family from the burden of an expensive funeral. Speak with our burial insurance specialists to learn more about your options today. Final expense insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that can help older adults ease the burden of end-of-life expenses on their loved ones.
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(all times Eastern)
What is final expense insurance?
Final expense insurance is a life insurance policy that has a lower death benefit, usually intended to cover final expenses and burial costs. Also known as burial insurance or funeral insurance, it’s designed for older adults who are ready to make end-of-life plans, typically age 50 and older.
It may be purchased as a secondary policy to supplement benefits from other life insurance or as a form of guaranteed issue coverage that doesn’t require a medical exam.
The premiums for final expense insurance policies are typically higher than many other policies with a lower payout. If you are considered high-risk for insurance carriers, however, final expense insurance may be easier to qualify for than other types of policies. It’s also a good option once you pass a certain age or develop health problems.
How does final expense insurance work?
Final expense insurance can prevent your family and loved ones from having to pay out-of-pocket for expenses ranging from burial costs to medical bills to credit card debt. A final expense insurance policy, also known as burial or funeral insurance, has a higher premium and lower death benefit than a conventional policy.
Interested in exploring final expense insurance options? Here’s how it works:
- Think about how much final expense insurance you need. At Fidelity Life, you can typically purchase coverage amounts from $5,000 to $35,000, so choose one that will cover your funeral, medical bills, remaining debts, and other costs.
- Decide which type of final expense is right for you. An agent can walk you through the options that work best for your situation, including simplified issue and guaranteed issue plans.
- Apply for coverage. Depending on the type of policy you choose, you may need to answer a few health questions. But approvals are usually quick and your policy can often be activated right away.
- Choose a beneficiary. An important part of purchasing a policy is deciding who will receive your death benefit. This can be a partner, child, close friend, or even a funeral home.
- Pay your premiums. Make monthly or annual payments to keep your policy active. If it lapses, it won’t pay out later when your family needs it. Final expense plans also offer fixed premiums, which can be helpful for budgeting if you’re on a set income.
- Protect your family. When you die, loved ones receive a tax-free cash payout. While it’s called final expense, they can use this money for whatever they need, with no strings attached.
The Benefits of Final Expense Insurance
Grief is enough of a burden. The benefits of final expense insurance all center around the fact that it provides easy peace of mind for you while you’re here, and for your loved ones when you’re gone.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the final expense insurance benefits vs standard life insurance:
Lower premiums
For as little as $20 a month, the final expense insurance policy offers coverage for up to $35,000.
Flexible payments
Pay monthly or annually—whatever’s best for your cash flow.
No medical exam
Unlike life insurance, you don’t need to pass a medical exam to buy final expense insurance.
Fast approvals
Not only does coverage begin as soon as you’re approved, but the application for the final expense insurance program is easy, quick and coverage is often issued in a matter of days—sometimes even on the same day you apply.
What Is Covered By Final Expense Burial Insurance?
Burial insurance can help your beneficiaries pay for the costs for your funeral and burial or cremation services. Here’s a list of expenses that beneficiaries can pay for with a life insurance payout:
- Burial plot
- Burian vault
- Caskets
- Cremation
- Flowers
- Funeral home services
- Grave opening and closing
- Headstones
- Obituary notices
- Transportation
- Urn services
Burial insurance can also be used to pay outstanding debts you leave behind after you pass away, such as:
- Credit card debt
- Legal services
- Medical bills
- Mortgage, car loan or other outstanding debt
Why Choose Final Expense Insurance Coverage?
Your desire to do your best for your loved ones never fades. This is why so many people between the ages of 50 and 70 switch from life insurance to final expense life insurance plan: it reduces the stress put on your grieving family and friends.
Final expense life insurance coverage is a thoughtful and affordable way to make sure your loved ones aren’t left with medical bills, funeral expenses, and outstanding bills that they have to pay out-of-pocket.
You can easily apply for final expense insurance plans and have it in place for when it’s needed: there is no extensive application process and you can be on your way to comprehensive coverage for anywhere from $5000 to $35,000 that will give you priceless peace of mind.
How Final Expense Life Insurance Works?
By helping individuals pay ahead of time for end-of-life expenses, final expense life insurance coverage allows older adults to free their loved ones from the burden of these costs, if not the burden of grief.
Featuring significantly lower coverage rates, final expense life insurance is also affordable for retired individuals on fixed budgets.
Here’s how final expense insurance works:
Step 1: Apply. Estimate your outstanding bills and final expenses (funeral plans, medical bills, etc) and tally them up. This will help you get an idea of your ideal coverage amount. Again, it’s just your best guess: you don’t have to be exact.
Next, compare final expense insurance quotes online from different insurance providers and pick the best one for you. The application process is quick and easy, and in some cases, you may not have to answer any questions at all. In as little as a day, you could be insured.
- Step 2. Purchase. Once approved, start making your regular premium payments. Your policy will stay active as long as your payments stay up-to-date and will build cash value. You’re guaranteed that your payments won’t go up, which is helpful when you’re on a budget.
- Step 3: Protect. In the event of your death, either your family or a funeral home with which you’ve made arrangements will receive a lump sum payout equal to the amount of coverage for which you applied. Your family can use this money to cover your final expenses and if there is any leftover, they can save or splurge—whichever they’d like.
Types of Burial Insurance
For adults interested in burial insurance quotes, there are two types of final expense products available:
- Simplified issue life insurance: This product is designed for individuals with moderate to no health issues that may or may not be eligible for traditional life insurance. Usually, applicants will answer a few health questions to gauge whether they have a critical illness; if not, jumpstarting the policy is straightforward and doesn’t require a medical exam. The typical coverage amount is up to $40,000; remember the higher the policy dollar value, the more your monthly premiums will be.
- Guaranteed issue life insurance: The second insurance option for seniors is guaranteed issue, which is for individuals with critical illnesses who cannot get standard life insurance. As the name suggests, coverage is guaranteed no matter your state of health, meaning no medical exam. The death benefit amount generally is capped at $25,000.
If you’ve never purchased life insurance before, either of these options are likely exactly what you might need to cover your final expenses.
Alternatives to Burial Insurance
For individuals looking into all their life insurance options, there are a few alternatives to consider:
- Traditional life insurance: For individual policyholders that qualify for the term, universal or whole life insurance, traditional life insurance does more than just pay for funeral expenses; the death benefit can go towards tuition or mortgage payments. This product is ideal for individuals with dependents (a spouse or family) or those who want “total life” insurance.
- Pre-need funeral trust: Americans can pay into an interest-earning trust to help them cover their funeral-related costs.
- Pre-need funeral insurance: Akin to a pre-need funeral trust, individuals can pay for their funeral expenses through their preferred funeral home.
- Self-funded: The final strategy is for an individual to allocate funds for their funeral on their own, without utilizing an insurance product.
Making sure final expense life insurance for seniors is the right fit is critical, given the higher premiums.
Who Needs Final Expense Insurance?
Due to the high cost of burial insurance premiums, it is not suitable for every American. For instance, couples with a young family would do better with traditional life insurance, as the death benefit is designed to cover wage/income loss and to help pay for things like the mortgage should one partner pass away unexpectedly.
For individuals shopping around for a final expense insurance quote, this product is best for:
- Those who don’t qualify for traditional insurance
- Seniors over 70
- Individuals with critical illnesses
- Americans wanting small coverage amounts
Life insurance isn’t a fit for everyone, but most people would want the option to spare their loved ones the cost of their final expenses, and final expense life insurance for seniors does exactly that. If you’re looking to instead leave your loved ones a sizable lump sum, then death benefit life insurance would be a better fit (depending on your age).
The Best Final Expense Insurance for Seniors
After a certain age, we no longer have dependents but this doesn’t mean we don’t want to take care of our loved ones. Instead of paying more sizable rates for life insurance, final expense insurance is a wonderful way to ensure your loved ones aren’t left to pay hefty end-of-life costs at a fraction of the cost—as little as $20 a month.
Final expense life insurance is a perfect insurance option for people on a fixed income.
The average cost of a funeral is $9,000. Grief is already enough to shoulder: don’t make your loved ones carry the expense of a funeral too. Protect your loved ones, even after you’re gone.
Final expense life insurance can help from the funeral expenses to medical bills to unpaid bills, this coverage provides compassionate, smart insurance for seniors. Your approval is not based on your answers to medical questions, so you can rest assured you’re getting the coverage you need at a price you can afford.
How Much Does Final Expense Insurance Cost?
There is a significant price difference between final expense life insurance and traditional life insurance products, like whole life or term life insurance. Any insurance product that does not require a medical exam is guaranteed and costs more; it’s no different with burial insurance.
To put it into perspective, a 50-year-old healthy male can expect to spend $46/month for a burial insurance death benefit of $10,000, while $41/month (with a medical exam) will get him $100,000 term life insurance.
Is Final Expense Insurance Worth It?
We can’t tell you which life insurance policy is best for your specific situation, but we can suggest that final expense life insurance for seniors is an excellent option for older adults and individuals who don’t qualify for standard coverage.
But even if you are eligible for traditional life insurance, it never hurts to get burial insurance quotes when shopping around for the best life insurance coverage for you!
Getting a Final Expense Insurance Quote: What You Need to Know?
You can quickly and easily get final expense insurance quotes online, but keep in mind no two insurance companies are the same. Rates are constantly changing, and each company will set its own rates based on actuarial data and underwriting criteria. So, one company’s best rate won’t be the same for another. This is why getting a final expense insurance quote is so important. A quote will allow you to see all your options that suit your needs.
Ask yourself:
- Which provider will give your family the financial protection they need?
- Which provider will pay your claim the fastest?
- Will your provider help your family with funeral arrangements?
All these questions are important and will guide you in finding the best coverage for your—and your loved ones—needs.
What Is Preneed Funeral Insurance
Pre-need funeral insurance sets aside money for your funeral before you die. This type of insurance is suitable because it protects your loved ones from covering funeral expenses when you are dead.
The preneed insurance covers the cost of your funeral. The permanent life insurance will pay for things like the cost of a standard funeral home service, funeral arrangements, memorial service, and church and burial services. You can also lock into today’s prices for those things so that you do not have to worry about it if they go up in price.
Burial insurance vs. pre-need insurance
Burial insurance and pre-need funeral insurance are two different products. The biggest difference is that burial insurance makes a payout to your beneficiaries, while pre-need insurance typically pays a funeral home where you have arranged funeral details.
If flexibility is a concern, burial insurance is a better purchase. Here’s a look at the major differences between the two.
Burial insurance
- Purchased from a life insurance company
- Your beneficiary receives the payout and can spend it how they choose
- If you move, your beneficiary has the flexibility to pay for a funeral in a different state
Preneed funeral insurance
- Often purchased from a funeral home where a funeral director is also a licensed life insurance agent
- Funeral options are chosen and paid to a funeral home when you die; difficult to make changes if locked into a contract
Your plan may not be “portable,” meaning you won’t be able to take it to a different funeral home
Pros & Cons of final expense Insurance
Pros
- Typically does not require a health exam.
- Application typically asks few (if any) health-related questions.
- You can’t be turned down for certain policy types, such as “guaranteed issue life insurance.”
Cons
- With no health exam, you won’t get a discounted rate if you are in good health.
- With little to no health information, the cost of the policy can be very high.
- Your policy will likely have a “graded death benefit,” which generally pays out only a refund of the premiums if you die within two to three years after buying the policy.
Ready to get final expense insurance today?
Let’s Get Started
Call one of our agents and get your Final Expense Insurance quote.
Monday to Friday – 9:00 am to 7:00 pm
(all times Eastern)
States Accepted – Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin.