How much the average funeral costs can be a big help in determining the amount of life insurance to purchase.
It’s been common for years for people to expect a funeral to cost $6,000, but that estimate is from around the year 2000 and it’s more expensive than that now.
A local mortuary in Salt Lake City, UT publishes their price list on their website. I picked their mortuary because they had an online price list. As of October 1st, 2008, the below is what you can expect to pay for a funeral living in Salt Lake City.
- Services of Funeral Directors and Staff – $2,495
- Embalming – $695
- Other Preparation of the Body – $405
- Use of the facility (average of day/night use) – $280
- Equipment and Staff for Graveside Services – $150
- Transfer of Remains to Funeral Home (local) - $430
- Hearse (local) – $270
- Service Vehicle – $160
- Casket – $895 – $21,595
- Outer Burial Container – $365 – $2,595
- Extras/Miscellaneous (Register Books, Music, Memorial DVD etc…) - $1,000
Assuming the casket was $2,500 and the outer burial container was another $700, the total price of this funeral would have been $9,085. This doesn’t include the cemetery and burial costs, which can easily exceed $2,500. It’s not unreasonable to assume that a funeral in Utah will be around $11,000.
Orrin Hatch’s website says that in 2005-2006, the average full funeral and burial in Utah was $12,685.
When looking to purchase a Utah life insurance policy, it’s safe to estimate between $10,000 and $15,000.
Your Funeral Guy
If you are looking for some ideas on how to lower a loved one’s funeral cost, please consider R. Brian Burkhardt’s book, “Rest in Peace: Insider’s Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral.”
This article will include new, updated, and more detailed information toward the end of March 2009.
You did a Great Job on these numbers.
Your Funeral Guy
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