An infographic from TermLifeInsurance.org takes data from the National Funeral Director’s Association and others, and uses it to compute the cost of the modern funeral. Sadly, while the cost of a funeral was a mere 2% of median income in 1967, it’s grown to 14.8% in 2006.
Of course, if you don’t want to be buried you could always be cremated, and the map at the bottom shows the percentage of cremations by state.
See the full-size graphic after the break.
‘Can You Afford To Die? (INFOGRAPHIC) | TermLifeInsurance .org.
Why do they call cremation “the alternative”? Many of the listed costs apply to cremation as well, if you have a memorial ceremony (plus cremation has its own costs). Even if you donate your body to medicine you may want to rent space for a memorial ceremony.
Given the source, I guess they are trying to imply that cremation is still in most states a less popular choice, and a “real” funeral costs so much that folks ought to buy larger life insurance policies.
These numbers do not reflect current trends, the real numbers are much higher for both cremation and funeral cost.
Your Funeral Guy