Almost 40 years ago we purchased cemetery plots in the Kansas City area. I wasn't even 30 years old yet, but I'd already lost my father, and even a couple of friends. I was convinced I wouldn't live to see my 30th birthday, and felt we needed to do something about it. In looking back now, I'm surprised I was even thinking about being prepared for such a thing.
We purchased TWO plots for $650 and paid by installment until they were finally ours. Good thing is that I'm now approaching my 71st birthday and I still haven't needed mine! The bad thing about all that is that we haven't lived in the area for almost 30 years (lots of 30s in this post!) so we (1) don't want to have our bodies taken back to Missouri, and we (2) do want to be cremated.
Today the value of those plots is $2,895 EACH!! Quite a spike on our initial investment of $325 each. Wowza. The cemetery is not allowed to re-buy our plots or help us sell them, and have instead suggested we list them in church newsletters or on Craigslist, eBay, or Facebook Marketplace. We haven't had any luck in selling them through any of those lists.
After another conversation with the cemetery people, I discovered there's a cemetery very close to me that will honor our agreement with the first company. The problem is that for me to transfer the property will cost me some money because their plots now sell for upwards of $3,000. Since I only want the plots so that I can resell them, I'm not too excited about putting more money into them.
I did discover that I can transfer them to the mausoleum so they can save our ashes, and the cost of that is $2,995. At least it's just another $100 each. We would still have to pay to BE cremated, and while I imagined my ashes being scattered in some remote vacation location, I do realize that in many areas, that's not legal. I really don't know why they'd care about ashes when there's a lot worse stuff going into the water, but that's only my opinion.
I guess it's worth going to the cemetery and having a conversation with them face to face to see what's the best option for us.
So what's the reason for this post? Consider this:
1. The cost of funerals and burials is only going up!
2. Have you made a decision about what you want your family to do in the event of your death? Cremation? Burial? Location?
3. Do you have life insurance you will be able to use to cover the expense?
4. Are you aware that there will also be other fees at the time of burial, even if you have a pre-paid plan AND insurance?
The list goes on and on.
No one wants to talk about such things, but it's definitely something you need to be talking about with your family. While we are dealing with this pandemic, we are all hoping to get through it and get back to normal, but we have already lost one friend and it's a miracle that we didn't lose a family member. Neither of them could have possibly seen this coming.
All They'll Need to Know is a guide to help walk you through the steps...
No comments:
Post a Comment