No pre-planning? What will happen?
- Family member must make 70 to 75 decisions within the first 1-2 days hours of death! It is difficult to think rationally while making so many decisions within days of losing a loved one. Will the death cause the tremendous stress and burden to your family member?
- Substantial amount of cash (yes, it is cash!) must be paid within days. Does your family member financially prepared for funeral services as well as columbarium niche?
- No chance to select the type of gathering you desire, is this what you want?
- No chance to select the funeral services you desire, is this what you want?
- No chance to select the location and condition of Columbarium Niche, is this what you want?
How You Can Save Money
Preparing for a funeral may seem intimidating, but making your plans and wishes in advance allows you to decide on the specific items you want and need. Because funeral expenses can place a financial burden on families, comparing prices for services and products ahead of time can significantly reduce the burden on your loved ones.
Why are funerals so expensive in the first place?
People often underestimate how much money and time go into planning a funeral. Everything from flowers to transportation is paid for days before the actual service. Other common funeral costs include:
- A hearse to transport the remains to the funeral home
- A casket or urn depending on the final resting place
- A columbarium niche
Caskets alone can cost as much as few thousands or more depending on the type of material used.And these are only funeral costs. There may be unpaid medical bills as well as regular monthly bills such as mortgage payments and utilities. These expenses add up fast for your surviving loved ones.Let’s look at what happens to families when there isn’t a plan in place to help cover your funeral costs.
How not planning for your funeral creates a financial burden
If you’re like most people, you probably haven’t spent much time thinking about your funeral or the costs associated with it. You might have some money saved for a rainy day, but it’s unlikely you have thousands of dollars set aside specifically for your funeral.
When you’re gone, it’s unlikely anyone other than your family is going to handle your final arrangements. But where will they get the money? Without financial preparations in place, they may be forced to use their own savings. How far will they extend themselves trying to give you the best funeral?
In addition to these questions, they’ll be forced to figure out the following funeral logistics:
- What clothing you’ll wear
- What jewelry you’ll wear (and whether it should be buried with you or passed along)
- What songs to play
- What passages to read
These decisions will fall directly on your family if there is no plan to guide them. And you know your family members better than anyone. Everyone has an opinion about everything! The last thing you want them doing is fighting with each other during this emotional time. Families often emotionally overspend by hundreds – sometimes thousands – when planning a funeral.If you’re lucky, they’ll choose a respectable funeral home to carry out all your final arrangements. Unfortunately, there are funeral homes out there that have one objective: to make your family spend as much money as possible.
Ash Placement Options?
Singapore is a small island, due to the space limitation, majority of people will go cremation. These are the options for placing cremated remains:
- Columbarium Niche
- Sea Burial
- Inland Ash Scattering
If you decide to place the ash in urn which will be located at columbarium or niche. It is the right time for you to visit various columbarium in Singapore. The prices of niche varies according to the facilities, location, size, etc. It is highly encouraged for you to make appointment with us to visit Singapore Nirvana before you make any decision.
Sea Burial is a practice where cremated remains are dispersed into the sea, being carefree and having the sea as the eternal resting place. Some people choose sea burials because it provides a sense of peace and being close to Nature. The concept of Inland Ash Scattering is just introduced by Singapore Government recently.
Most people will go for the option of placing the ash in Urn which will be prayed in the columbarium niche. This gives the opportunity for family members and decedents to visit the columbarium every anniversary.
Once you have decided on your final arrangements of Ash placement options, you can begin to shop around for a funeral home and director.
Without any expertise or prior know-how, families often resort to calling the nearest funeral home and making all the arrangements without shopping for funeral-related services. As a result, they often overpay for things like caskets and headstones. Be sure to speak with several different funeral homes to find one you are comfortable with. It is highly encouraged for you to make appointment with us to understand the Funeral Service Package that Singapore Nirvana is offering.
Don’t feel pressured to plan every detail of your service or memorial. Your loved ones will likely want to participate in remembering and celebrating you, so build guidelines and direction for them to follow, but allow them to contribute as well. So that, your loved ones could work closely with funeral home and director without any confusion.
If you have chosen Columbarium or Niche, you could share with your loved ones about the decoration of the niche. Besides, you could also discuss with them about the prayer sessions every year.
Some people visit and gather at Singapore Nirvana during Chinese New Year to pray for their ancestors together!
