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Tom Meaglia, ChFC®, AEP®,

CLU®, CRPC®, MSFS

Chartered Financial Consultant

Investment Advisor Representative

Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor

CA Insurance Lic. #0567507

 

Meaglia Financial Consulting

2105 Foothill Blvd., #B140, La Verne, CA 91750

 

Toll Free: 800-386-3700

Bus:         909-593-6105

Cell:         818-681-8600

Fax:         909-593-6120

 

Email: tom@meagliafinancialconsulting.com

Website: www.meagliafinancialconsulting.com

January/February 2019

Cut Funeral Costs by Planning Ahead

red Plan Ahead cubes over white background

Shopping for the best deal on funeral services is the last thing anyone wants to do when grieving. That’s why you may want to spare loved ones this task by planning ahead, saving potentially thousands of dollars in the process.


Shop Ahead
To start the process, discuss with your family the type of services you want, realizing that funerals are as much for survivors as for the deceased. To compare apples to apples, decide how many days you will give friends and loved ones to pay last respects at a funeral home. Also compare prices on plots and gravestones, including engraving on the latter.


The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a funeral rule that gives consumers rights, including the right to learn of casket prices before seeing them, to refuse embalming, and to receive price information by phone and an itemized price list in person.


You also have a right, for example, to buy an urn or a casket elsewhere, including at warehouse shopping clubs, where these items are often less expensive.


Shop Now
If you have to plan a funeral in which arrangements were not made in advance, the FTC recommends that you compare the costs of at least two funeral homes and get an itemized price list from each. Know that you have a right to refuse items or services you don’t want.


The FTC offers this and other valuable information at www.consumer.ftc.gov. Also check out the Funeral Consumers Alliance at www.funerals.org and click on local FCA, where you can find contact information for an FCA in your area. The FCA offers tips and, in some locations, price surveys you can download.


Life Matters
Whether planning ahead or not, it is important to let loved ones know where they can access any life insurance policies and related contact information. Life insurance that has been in force at least two years is usually accepted as promise of payment for funeral home services via what’s known as a life insurance assignment. Don’t sign the policy over or divulge the benefit amount; the funeral home need only verify that the policy is big enough to pay funeral costs.


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Thomas Meaglia is an Investment Adviser Representative of Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC, dba, Fusion Capital Management, a registered investment adviser that only conducts business in jurisdictions where it is properly registered, or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements. Registration as an investment adviser is not an endorsement of the firm by securities regulators and does not mean the adviser has achieved a specific level of skill or ability. The firm is not engaged in the practice of law or accounting.
Insurance and annuity products are not sold through Fusion Capital Management. Fusion does not endorse any annuity or insurance product, nor does it guarantee any insurance or annuity performance. Annuity and life insurance guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. If you withdraw money from or surrender your contract within a certain time after investing, the insurance company may assess a surrender charge. Withdrawals may be subject to tax penalties and income taxes. Persons selling annuities and other insurance products receive compensation for these transactions. These commissions are separate and distinct from Fusion's investment advisory fees.
Meaglia Financial Consulting and LTM Marketing Specialists LLC are unrelated companies. This publication was prepared for the publication’s provider by LTM Client Marketing, an unrelated third party. Articles are not written or produced by the named representative.

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