It Costs a Lot to Die These Days

"They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad to realize I’m going to miss mine by just a few days.”

- Garrison Keillor

One of the most logical and effective ways to plan for Medicaid eligibility is to prepay your funeral expenses. As uncomfortable as contemplating your own mortality is, creating a funeral plan with an itemized list of expenditures can allow you to protect a significant amount of money when you need nursing home care. The reason this is such a logical planning option is that creating a funeral plan allows you to set aside money that will be spent regardless of whether you plan ahead or not. Planning to pay for your funeral is like planning to pay the gas bill. It has to happen eventually.

Furthermore, creating a funeral plan is an extremely effective Medicaid planning tool because funeral expenses are so high. In the town where my physical office is located, the average funeral costs $9,000 - $12,000, depending on which costs you include. Funeral home expenses alone fall in the $9,000-$10,000 range. If you add in the cemetery plot and monument, a single person can easily spend $12,000 before all is said and done.

These expenses are intimidating for a lot of people. And rightly so; funerals are expensive! But the high cost of a funeral allows an individual to place a substantial amount of funds into a prepaid plan which will cover those costs. Because such a prepaid plan is Medicaid-exempt, it’s a good idea to consider prepaying funeral expenses when a Medicaid application is imminent.

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Lawyer Joke of the Day: (Apologies if this one is offensive. It made me laugh out loud.)

Satan was complaining bitterly to God, "You made the world so that it was not fair, and you made it so that most people would have to struggle every day, fight against their innate wishes and desires, and deal with all sorts of losses, grief, disasters, and catastrophes. Yet people worship and adore you. People fight, get arrested, and cheat each other, and I get blamed, even when it is not my fault. Sure, I'm evil, but give me a break. Can't you do something to make them stop blaming me?"

And so, God created lawyers.