The Canton Repository (Ohio) just ran two articles about how to save money on funerals. The stories about funeral planning ran in their newspaper on Sunday, February 6, 2011, and these articles appeared online yesterday. Yours truly was quoted, along with Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance.
Here are the first few paragraphs of each article. Click on the headline to read the whole story.
Final Arrangements – Looking to Save to The Very End?
The best way to save money on funerals is to plan ahead and shop around.
Planning ahead can be difficult because people are uncomfortable with the topic, says Gail Rubin, author of the new book, “A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan To Die.”
“As I’m fond of saying, just like talking about sex won’t make you pregnant, talking about funerals won’t make you dead,” Rubin said. “People don’t talk about it. Then they go astray making decisions from the heart, rather than the head. And guilt often plays into spending more than you need to, or even than your loved one would have wanted you to.”
You Have Options When Buying a Casket
Consumers may not be aware they can buy a casket — often the biggest funeral expense — from a place other than the funeral home.
According to the Funeral Rule of the Federal Trade Commission, a funeral home cannot refuse to use a casket you supply, nor charge you a fee for using it, nor pressure you to buy from them.
Hope you’ll read both stories!