Nobody lives forever. It’s a sad but inevitable fact that we are all going to die someday. And as you might imagine, the business of death and dying is an expensive one. Buying a casket alone can cost up to NZ $10,000. Depending on where you intend to be buried, a burial plot can cost anywhere between NZ $3,000 and NZ $6,000. Once you throw in other costs, like funeral director’s fees, flowers, a hearse and all the expenses associated with a wake, you are looking at a total price tag north of NZ $20,000. That is a lot of money to find, often on very short notice.
And, if you have not made adequate provision before you die, somebody else is going to have to foot the bill. Yet, very few people plan for their own funerals – just 5% of all Kiwis according to research. And, the vast majority of these people are in their sixties or older. Younger people either do not want to think about it or are so busy with their day-to-day lives that it never occurs to them that funeral planning is something they should start thinking about now.
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Why Funeral Planning Isn’t Just for Old People photo from pexels.com |