I have represented and funded for many funeral homes since 1992. In every case, we used some form of "Memorial Guide," "Record Guide," or other planning guide to put your final wishes and preferences all into one place. A very good one that I recommend is Met Life's Funeral Planning Guide (click here to download PDF). It is very thorough. They offer this when they promote their final expense and group insurance. Over the years, however, I have found it is additionally beneficially to have a one page summarization (which is not intended to replace a more comprehensive document). The reason for the one page summary is to make it easier for your family to look at one piece of paper with the most important information first. It is also easier in most cases for you to think about the most important information first and then to elaborate later. I help you do this with a blank worksheet you can start filling out. If I meet with you, I will take a copy and then put it into printed, easier-to-read form. In addition, I will put a photo of your casket selection on the same page, so when the time comes no one is relying on a written description of what you wanted. Rather, they will see clearly what casket you preferred.







There are some other important reasons for having a final wishes summary on one sheet of paper. The most important is to prevent your family from making mistakes, especially costly mistakes. What types of mistakes can happen? They can overspend. This can occur quickly and easily if they choose the wrong funeral home. It is a typical mistake for your family to assume they should be arranging your funeral with the same company where your burial plots are if there is a funeral home at that location also. Examples are Wasatch Lawn, Valley View Memorial Park, Larkin Sunset Gardens, Redwood Memorial, Lake Hills Memorial, Mountain View Memorial and Lakeview Memorial. These are all combined cemetery/mortuary facilities. But they may be way out of your budget for funeral arrangements. If you don't instruct your family with the words, "At time of need contact: The Correct Funeral Home," they will automatically assume you want to use the funeral home where your plots are.



The first bits of information under VITAL STATISTICS are for your death certificate. Your survivors may not know or remember your marriage date, etc. Fill this section out first. Social Security number is optional, but it is required at the time of death. You'll also need it to file for the $255 Social Security death benefit.





MILITARY RECORD is very important if you are a veteran, because you are entitled to certain benefits if you served with an honorable discharge. One item of considerable expense which veterans get for free is a headstone/marker for your grave, which today for a single person averages around $1,500 to $2,000. See Update on Veteran's Benefits.

Decide whether you want a funeral service with a viewing. Remember that with providers such as Premier Funeral Services, and numerous others throughout Utah, you pay much less for having a church service or a graveside service instead of at a mortuary's chapel. Remember that most of the high-profile funeral homes don't give you a discount for using your church, but they will give a small discount for a graveside service. If you decide to use Premier Funeral Services (which could later be changed), be sure to fill that in under "At time of need contact." The details of the funeral service with respect to music, flowers, etc. can be added later, but be sure to indicate who would be in charge of the funeral, such as oldest child, bishop, etc.




Selecting the casket style, make, and even model is relatively easy. You can draw the line on cost when you fill in this section. You can either go to my caskets page or go to Walmart or Costco's Web sites. You will find the quality you are looking for at the best prices. Don't visit a funeral home's showroom to shop for a casket. You will be wasting your time.



The INSURANCE FUNDING section is where the money to pay for it will come from. If you are freezing costs with me, this would be National Guardian Life Funeral Expense Trust. We would meet to work out the face amount and payment terms.





Under INTERMENT REQUESTS, indicate whether and where you have burial plots and if a burial is your preference. If you plan to be cremated and not buried, it would be best not to indicate where you have burial plots. Again, a mistake could be made costing more money if your survivors thought burial was part of the plan. Indicate also whether a vault is already paid for if you're having a burial, as well as grave marker. A grave marker is the last (optional) thing you need, so you can leave this blank for now.








And that's it. The more detailed information can be added later on another document. I have NGL's Record Guide, which is a folder with many other details you can outline. Once the Final Wishes Summary is done, make copies and distribute to your family right away. You're that much closer to peace of mind.



After the one-page Final Wishes Summary is done, you can elaborate with more details on separate sheets:


To add more details, click Each Page to Enlarge and Print:













No Funeral Home Pays Me

I make less money showing you better alternatives, but that's just the way it goes. This money is paid to me by the funding company I use, National Guardian Life. Funeral homes pay me nothing. No bonuses or commissions are paid to me for promoting any particular funeral service provider.

I have my choice of which funeral homes I can represent. These days, I am very picky. I no longer can be lured by bonus money offered by the expensive funeral homes. Let them and their agents bilk seniors. I am only interested in giving your family the best deal for your money, period. I have a handful of funeral service providers (homes) that I would highly recommend. Premier Funeral Services, serving Salt Lake, Davis, and Utah counties, and even in neighboring states, is the best value for your money that I can see. I have written well over 240 plans for Premier in the past four years alone.








ARE YOU WORRIED WHERE YOUR MONEY IS GOING WITH MY FUNERAL PLANS?

The law is very strict. You can’t pay any money to a funeral home until someone has passed away. This means, in the meantime, your money has to stay deposited somewhere else until the time comes. 90% of all prepaid funerals are funded by life insurance companies who are specifically in the final expense and funeral funding business. I use National Guardian Life, the largest of its kind. They have been in business since 1909. I explain in other pages on this site how their funding plans compare to those of most funeral homes in Utah use.

Not only are their rates on plans up to ten years the best, here are some other reasons your money should be with NGL:

· They offer a discount for paying for your plan with a single check (“cash”)—which most funeral funding life insurance companies do not.
· They have an EARLY PAYOFF discount that allows you to pay your plan off at any time at a discount of what it would have cost you had you stayed with the full term of the plan. Most companies want to lock you into a plan for the full term so they can get more money out of you.
· You get insurance that will pay off your plan should something happen to you prematurely with NO DISQUALIFYING HEALTH QUESTIONS. Everyone qualifies.
· You can exchange any paid up insurance or funeral plans for a National Guardian Life plan at no cost to you. Then your family can have money left over to use as you see fit. Or you can set up a better, less expensive plan than the one you have with no need to make any more payments.
· In NGL’s Funeral Expense Trust, your money is protected from creditors, nursing homes, lawyers, and everyone—it is completely UNTOUCHABLE and safe.

I get tired of learning how senior citizens are being taken advantage of. Many of them are buried with medical expenses and fixed incomes. Fortunately, I’ve been able to rescue some, and even reverse the course they were on. I can often get you out of a bad deal, put you into another, and you won’t lose any of what you’ve already invested. How exactly I can do that depends on your situation.

Already paid too much for a pre-paid funeral? I may be able to get you some of your money back, and you’ll still get the same thing you paid for besides. Most often, I can save you about $2,500.00.

Let’s go over your situation and do things the RIGHT WAY.



Combine National Guardian Life funding with an affordable funeral home, and you have the best value for your money. $4,500.00 for EVERYTHING (not including burial plots and vaults), and a payment under $50.00 a month.

Don’t be duped into believing that “funerals are expensive.” They’re only expensive if you talk to the WRONG PEOPLE! Talk to the right people. Only talk to those people who have YOUR interests in mind, not the interests of the company or who are thinking about their big commissions and bonus money.

Meet with me just one time, and I’ll take care of it in the best way. High quality caskets, high quality full funeral service guaranteed. Below are some examples of caskets in the plans I set up for well under $1,500.00.



A funeral provider worth trusting should be able to show you many caskets in this price range.

Some of Darryl Roberts' advice from his book Profits of Death:

"The key to controlling future funeral and cemetery costs is to arrange and pay for them in advance."

"...people will purchase more in an emotionally charged at-need moment than they will in a calmer and more stable pre-need moment."

"Pre-planning is absolutely the best thing you can do to ensure that you get the final arrangements you want and save money at the same time."

"In my opinion, insurance policies are the best way to go. The insurance industry is highly regulated. Also, insurance companies are typically more balanced and more stable than most death merchants. Even when insurance companies go bankrupt, state and federal agencies come to the rescue of policyholders. Certainly the same cannot be said of funeral homes and cemeteries!"

The only advisor with the qualifications needed to give good advice about funeral planning is one who has extensive experience in the industry. I have written many hundreds of funeral, burial and cremation plans over 24 years, and it has not been for just one company. I have represented large and small operations, totally honest and somewhat crooked operations. I have been in the trenches and seen every tactic used in the interest of making money, even at the expense of families. I have studied and adhered to the standards of the National Funeral Directors Association. I have applied my education in accounting to the numbers that pertain to funeral planning and the related life insurance funding. With me it's "always about the money," but it's about YOUR money. It's not about whether or not I'm making money for the funeral home or the funding company. It's about zeroing in on the best value for your money.

See my other Web page Which Plans Are REALLY Best for Most Seniors?

And look at these Web pages on the Internet also:

Should You Prepay Your Own Funeral Expenses?

Let Your Legacy Be Peace Of Mind, Not Debt

What is the Difference Between Life Insurance and Funeral Plans?











I have set up over 250 plans in the past three years alone that pay for a full traditional service with casket included for around $3,000.00-half of what most funeral homes charge. You use your church, a reception center, a lodge, the graveside, or some other location you arrange. No sacrifices! Just a better plan for your money. And your casket and services costs are FROZEN. This applies to other plans, including cremation. All the factors discussed on this page make my funeral plans no-brainers.

All plans are guaranteed portable, including cash value growth as long as you're alive. Even though you may have designed your plan around the prices of one particular funeral home, the funds can be used at another that charges similarly or less so you get the same result if your plans change. In any case, your money is never stuck with a funeral home where you have to pay a penalty for withdrawing that money. You don't have to worry about getting any money back from a funeral home, because your money is safely deposited with a large insurance company. And no current or past health condition can disqualify you from the insurance plan.


Your money stays safely deposited with a large life insurance company until you pass away, a company in business since 1909. www.nglic.com. You can change whom you want to use for a funeral at any time. We have 1-3-5-7-10 year plans, with full insurance coverage should something happen before you make all the payments, and always a discount for making a single payment or paying off your plan early. And always with growing cash value tax-free.

Our average ten-year plan at most ages is around $33.00 a month. Compare that to what other funeral homes you may have had in mind can offer you. The average funeral plan in the Salt Lake area on a ten-year plan is around $80.00 per month per person.

Let me show you the best plan for your money.


Learn Why

I don't need your Social Security number. There is a major funeral funding company based in the Salt Lake area that owns many mortuaries and cemeteries that insists on getting your Social Security number when you set up a plan with them. Don't fall for this. That number is only needed for a death certificate, not for a funeral or burial plan. National Guardian Life does NOT require your Social Security number. Turn down any plan that does.

Get professional, personalized service at the right price, on the best terms.

UtahsFuneralPlanningSite.com serves the funeral and funeral planning market in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. Our goal is to help you plan a funeral in as much detail as possible well in advance. This website provides the tools you need to pay for funerals the right way, so affordable funerals don’t end up being a sacrifice but instead a more comfortable reality. We offer or point you to Utah's best funeral prices and lowest cost for funeral plans, which can include caskets and burial vaults, and final expense whole life insurance, especially for seniors with bad health and with low incomes. You will be able to not only outline your final wishes with accuracy, but you will know exactly how to calculate and control the cost of a funeral (church, mortuary chapel, or graveside), the cost of a burial, and, if applicable, cremation options. You will not become the victim of funeral rip-offs, over-priced caskets, or plans that don’t suit your family’s true needs and budget. There will be no confusion in your family at the time of need concerning arrangements. Once you have done things correctly, they will know where the line has been drawn on spending for your final expenses, and no mistakes will be made.