You may not be aware that we are licensed for insurance. We do this so that we can provide advice on insurance products, though we never have – nor ever will – sell life insurance or any other commission product. However, since we are licensed, we receive dozens of spam e-mail via sold lists of insurance providers, which we don’t mind since it provides us with ‘inside information’.
We received one this morning that said if we were to sell funeral insurance to a 62 year old client, we would recieve 23% of the premium as a commission. 23%! The quotes they used to endorse the product were not from happy customers, they were from the salespeople. John C. said “I’ve made over $10,000 in commision in the last two months.” Mike F. said, “I made over $5,000 on my first sale.” $5,000 on one funeral insurance policy!
Aside from the ridiculous commissions made, we would not recommend purchasing a funeral insurance policy for three reasons:
- If you are under 70, there is a likelihood that you may not reside in the same location where you purchased the insurance for, especially if it is tied to a specific funeral home or cemetery. My mother has 3 funeral plots in IL, but they reside in AZ!
- The cost of funerals do not necessarily go up every year.
- Your plans for the funeral will inevitably change from now to shortly before you die. You don’t want a decision made 20 years ago to dictate your final wishes.
The one exception would be for someone in their 90’s who is closer to their homegoing. That can be a more appropriate time. The commission in that age range is 5%, which is much more acceptable. Our parting thought would be, PLAN for your funeral, but don’t yet PAY for your funeral.