My topics have been more spiritual lately, but this did start as a preparedness blog. Sometimes preparedness is very physical and tangible.
I am still thinking about death.
This is also very financial; I can't help but see how much money affects the end of life.
First of all, let me just put a price list here:
This is for Threadgill Memorial. I know multiple people who have worked with them and everyone says they are wonderful.
I linked directly to the PDF because it can take a bit of navigation to get to the cash amounts. This is where I'm getting hung up.
It sucks to have to be worrying about money when you are in the middle of grieving.
Money is also a real thing, and it can be hard to avoid it.
Hearing other people's experiences, even when there were prepaid plans there were always additional charges.
I understand that better now after studying the list.
A big factor is transportation. It changes based on mileage, and based on timing.
My mother is in hospice, so I am pretty confident of the physical location where she will die and from which she will need to be transported.
If a relatively healthy person had a plan but died in an accident away from home, that could add mileage that would need to be taken into account.
Even an ailing person might transfer between home and a hospital and a convalescent facility. Depending on when the plan was made, the facility chosen was probably close to home, but may not be close to the place of death.
What might just be a $4.00 per mile charge for a longer route than expected becomes thousands of dollars when there are transfers between funeral homes.
Also note there is a $480 service charge if this is happening on a weekend or federal holiday. I have been assuming that is for transportation, but it's under miscellaneous so could be for services. I should call and ask, but I can tell you that since I saw that I have been worrying that Mom might die on a weekend.
There are things you can plan for, like pacemaker removal or organ donation costs; you might have a hard time predicting the contagious disease fee.
As it is, based on the costs for my father (who was found on a Friday night), these prices do not seem outrageous.
Everything that gets done gets done by people. They deserve to be paid for what they do, which is important work that not everyone is equipped to do. Because of its time-sensitive nature, they cannot always have regular hours. I get all of that and I don't object.
But if you don't have it...
There is another issue that is even more emotional, though still very much a financial one. I am trying to figure that one out even as a timer with an unknown amount keeps ticking.
I hope to be able to write about that with more assurance next week.
For now, I encourage you to take a look and think about what you might want, for yourself and for those you care about. Get an idea of rough costs.
If you do decide to pay for a plan in advance, there should be a cushion for the unexpected costs.
Those are sure to happen, even if right now it is impossible to have any idea of how.
No comments:
Post a Comment