Traditional Funeral
This option has historically been the most common in the United States, though there is no question people are becoming increasingly creative as they look to put their own spin on the traditional funeral. Most commonly, a traditional funeral consists of a funeral home which is contacted to remove the body, perform the embalming, host a visitation or viewing of the body, and transport it to either a cemetery for burial or a crematory. In general, this option is the most expensive.
Direct Cremation
This option is increasingly popular these days. It basically eliminates the embalming, viewing/visitation, casket, and vault costs, which can save the customer easily over 50% of the average funeral costs. Depending on what the survivors want to do with the ashes, even more money can be saved on burial and cemetery plots. Many people that choose direct cremation often hold their own memorial service. This can take place at traditional locations like the funeral home or at a family member’s home. Some people have even chosen to get more creative and host “celebrations” at art galleries, in a botanical garden, or at the site where the ashes are to be spread. The options are virtually endless when it comes to mourning or “celebrating” someone’s life, whichever survivors may choose. One potential downside of direct cremation is that mourners don’t get to see the body. Some people believe this opportunity helps to provide more closure, while others actually prefer it.
Direct Burial
Direct burial, similar to direct cremation, eliminates the viewing and embalming process, however a casket and cemetery plot arrangements still must be made. This option is also less expensive than a traditional funeral, but again a formal wake or “celebration” will not have the body present, with the exception of a graveside service.
Home Burials
This is probably the least known option, though it’s gaining national attention as evidenced by a 2009 article in the New York Times. Similar to home births, the entire process of preparing the body, mourning, and burying the body is done at home. This is certainly the most cost efficient option. Some people even choose to build their own caskets, making the effective price tag almost zero. As you can imagine though, there are local and state laws that need to be thoroughly investigated before travelling down this path. Six states require that a funeral home director handle the remains at some point in the process (Connecticut, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Indiana, and New York). Also, Oregon is considering licensing any “death midwives” that partake/guide the process for a fee.
Obviously home burials are much more prevalent in rural areas and only take place on one’s own property.
Hybrid Approach
As I previously alluded, folks are becoming much more creative in planning end of life services. Some are choosing an alternative approach for financial reasons, while others are looking for a fresh approach to an emotionally trying event. Either way, consumers look to be demanding new services with more options. The only constant in end of life services appears to be an ultimate disposal of the remains. Everything else if fairly variable.
Understand the Current State of the Industry – Back in the day when visitation and mourning lasted 3 days, major religions were openly against cremation, and elaborate caskets were a show of status, funeral homes made good predictable money regardless of the economic climate. Ask any funeral director today (off-the-record of course) and they will almost all say the same thing… business isn’t a bed of roses right now. 
The consumer is wiser, populations are shifting, religious views are less rigid, the mourning process is shorter, and most of all, cremation is on the quick rise. Consider that today just under 40% of people choose cremation, while in 2000 (just 9 years ago) the rate was 26% and in 1980, less than 10%.
This shift causes a gaping hole in the revenue potential for the average funeral home. As you will see further in #4, funeral homes make a good bulk of their money on high margin casket sales. If the deceased or the survivors choose “direct cremation” (ie, no viewing) the funeral home director loses out on even more revenue opportunities. I still like to believe most all funeral directors are good honest people and thus the old reputation of taking advantage of people at a difficult time is an unfair stereotype. However, these folks are small business owners and their livelihood does depend on making sales, just like the guy selling TVs or cars. This is no small purchase for most of us either. Most funeral home bills average around $6,000. And remember, there are a lot of people choosing inexpensive cremation options that keep that “average” low. The bottom line is that despite the circumstances, you still need to come informed and prepared.
Know Your Rights – Your rights as a consumer are protected by the FTC and can be found here. The most important piece of protection that the FTC enforces is something called “the funeral rule.” The funeral rule requires the funeral home director to offer all pricing in an itemized fashion, so that the consumer is completely aware of what they are being charged for. They are required to show you this breakdown in person and even go through the itemized list over the phone if you ask them to. Additionally, the funeral home director is required by law to show you a full list of offerings before actually showing you the product. This is to eliminate certain sneaky sales tactics like profiling the customer at the door and only showing them certain products (caskets). If you feel like you aren’t getting the whole story somewhere, ask for their offerings list or just simply go somewhere else. Also, be careful of “package deals.” By law, funeral homes are not allowed to sell you a package containing items you don’t want. In other words, as a consumer you have the right to buy any individual products or services that you want (with one or two minor exceptions). Finally, there are two very important additional protections of “the funeral rule.” One, if you choose cremation, the funeral home must provide options for alternative containers. Hence, you cannot be strong-armed into choosing the 24karat urn because it’s “the only one left.” Two, the consumer cannot be charged a fee or refused the right to provide their own casket. This is important because markups on caskets are significant, and sometimes a bit egregious in my mind. There is a reason why Costco started selling discounted caskets to their members, right?
Know in Advance What You are Shopping For – There are a series of key questions that need to be answered before actually sitting down with a funeral home director to discuss plans. From my experience, folks that arrive prepared not only save time, but also save a serious amount of money. You don’t want to be planning a funeral in a funeral home director’s office. Again, most funeral home directors don’t have bad intentions, but they all depend on making sales to keep their business alive. Here is a list of questions that need to be answered before engaging a funeral home director.
What is your budget? This is a general dollar amount that you are thinking about spending and it is a figure that you should keep in the back of your mind as you go through the process.
Is this a religious ceremony? Do arrangements need to be made with a church or religious place of worship? Does your religious place of worship have any preferred vendors that they trust and/or can offer you a discount?
What types of services are you looking for? This is where we really begin to understand what we are shopping for.
Did the deceased have specific wishes?
Is there a family tradition or religious custom to follow?
Please click on “understanding your options” for an overview. This can serve as a friendly informational for first time planners as well as repeat planners looking for a fresh perspective. Ultimately, the most important question here is: “traditional burial or cremation”? From here, you can really start to narrow what products need to be considered.
What type of mourning event is necessary? Whether this is a wake, celebration of life, or standard viewing, there are several questions that need to be answered… Where is this even going to be held? Will the body be present? Who should attend?
