Burial Insurance
Burial insurance — the industry calls it final expense life insurance — is a small whole life policy bought to cover a funeral and the bills that arrive with it. It is not a funeral plan, and it is not a special kind of product. Knowing what it actually is protects you from the way it is usually sold.
Read this first
Burial insurance is life insurance. It is not a prepaid funeral contract and not a funeral plan. The benefit is paid in cash to the beneficiary you name, and that person decides how it is spent.
The problem it solves
A funeral is one of the few large bills a family has to settle within days, at the worst possible moment, usually before any estate is available to pay for it. Most people would rather that did not land on their children, and most people also do not want to think about it long enough to plan for it.
The straightforward answer is a small life insurance policy with a named beneficiary. The complication is that buying life insurance in your seventies, with a couple of prescriptions, is a different exercise from buying it at forty-five. That is the gap this product fills, and it fills it by relaxing the underwriting rather than by being a different kind of insurance.
One company's policy is published in full further down this page — the first on this site for which a current brochure was supplied. Everything there is transcribed from that document, the statistics beside it carry their own sources and dates, and what the brochure does not answer is listed as questions to put to us rather than glossed over. We are appointed with a great many companies for this; that one is simply the one we can evidence today.
Three things happen, in this order
You choose an amount, usually a modest one
Enough to cover a funeral and the loose ends. Across the industry the average simplified issue policy is about $14,500 and the average guaranteed issue policy about $9,800, per LIMRA and the Life Insurers Council's 2024 final expense survey of 28 reporting companies.
You answer a few health questions — or none at all
A short questionnaire plus a prescription-history check is called simplified issue. No questions at all is called guaranteed issue, and it always comes with a waiting period on the death benefit. Which one you should be offered depends entirely on your health.
The benefit is paid in cash to the person you name
Not to a funeral home, unless you separately assign it to one. Your beneficiary receives the money and decides what it pays for — the funeral, the last medical bills, the outstanding card, or nothing to do with any of it.
Who this suits, and who it does not
The second list matters more than the first. An agent who only writes the first one is selling, not advising.
Worth considering if…
- You want to leave enough to bury you without leaving a bill, and you are not trying to solve anything larger than that.
- Your health would make a fully underwritten policy slow, expensive or impossible — but you have not actually asked anyone to check.
- You want a named beneficiary who receives cash quickly, rather than money tied up in an estate or committed in advance to one funeral home.
Probably not for you if…
- You are in reasonable health. Ask to be quoted fully underwritten whole life alongside this, every time. Relaxed underwriting is paid for by everybody in the pool, so a healthy buyer who takes simplified issue without comparing is paying the price of the sickest person in it.
- Someone depends on your income. This is the wrong shape and the wrong size — term life buys many times the death benefit per dollar for a working-age adult. Small-face whole life is not an income replacement plan.
- You already have the money set aside and it is genuinely available to your family. Then you would be insuring a cost you can already cover, and the honest answer is to keep your money.
Standard Life and Casualty — Secure Advantage Final Expense
Every benefit below is transcribed from Standard Life and Casualty Secure Advantage Final Expense brochure SFE-BR 0921, and from the carrier's replacement notice REPNOT-1. Benefits, riders and amounts vary by state, and the policy issued to you governs.
Not available in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Minnesota, New Mexico, Washington. Of the seventeen states this agency is licensed in, those are the ones this policy is not written in.
No waiting period for full coverage
The brochure says so in terms: this is an immediate death benefit whole life policy. A death from natural causes in the first years pays the full face amount, not a return of premium.
This is the first question to ask about any final expense policy and the reason it is the first line here. A GRADED policy pays back the premiums instead for the first two or three years. Both kinds are sold, both are called final expense, and the difference is the entire value of the policy if somebody dies early.
Up to $50,000, and the ceiling falls with age
Maximum benefit by issue age: $50,000 from 0 to 49, $25,000 from 50 to 80, and $15,000 from 81 to 85.
Somebody buying at 79 can take $25,000; the same person waiting until 81 can take $15,000. Age bands move on a birthday.
Rates and cash values are guaranteed
The premium never rises, the death benefit never falls, and the cash value is guaranteed rather than projected. Nothing in the policy depends on an interest rate or a dividend the company can change later.
That is what makes it comparable between companies on price alone. Ask any competing quote whether the same three things are guaranteed.
It builds cash value, and that is a real thing you own
As a permanent whole life policy it accumulates a guaranteed cash value you can borrow against or surrender.
Borrowing reduces the death benefit by what is owed, and surrendering ends the cover. A final expense policy is bought to pay for a funeral; treating the cash value as savings usually defeats the purpose of buying it.
Benefits are income-tax free
The brochure states the death benefit is income-tax free and asks you to consult your tax consultant for qualifications.
That is the general rule for a life insurance death benefit paid to a named beneficiary. We are not tax advisers and neither is the brochure — if the policy is going into a trust or an estate, take advice before you buy.
Optional riders
Accidental death benefit rider
An optional rider paying an additional amount where death is accidental.
The brochure names the rider and does not print its schedule, so nothing about what it pays is published here. Ask for the rider's own terms in writing.
The numbers behind the product
None of the figures below is a policy benefit and none of them is ours. They are third-party research quoted in the company's brochure, and each one is shown with who produced it and when, because a statistic is only true of the year it was measured in.
| What | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What a funeral costs in the United States “And can quickly escalate from there,” as the brochure puts it. Get a written price list from a funeral home before deciding what a policy needs to cover — federal rules entitle you to one. | $7,000 to $12,000 | Trust & Will, Funeral Costs 101, cited in the 2021 brochure |
| What Social Security pays toward a death A one-time lump sum, paid to a surviving spouse who was living with the deceased, or who was living apart but receiving certain benefits on their record; failing that, to a child eligible on that record in the month of death. It is the single most useful figure on this page and it is why final expense insurance exists. | $255 | Social Security Administration, If You Are The Survivor, 2021, cited in the brochure |
| Out-of-pocket medical spending in the five years before death The same study is quoted as leaving one senior in four approaching bankruptcy. | more than $38,000 | Journal of General Internal Medicine, via the National Council on Aging, NCOA article dated 9 November 2020 |
| Average personal loan balance carried by people aged 55 to 73 | $19,253 | Experian, second quarter of 2019 |
| Senior households holding a credit card balance, 2001 | 24.2% | National Council on Aging, article dated 9 November 2020 |
| Senior households holding a credit card balance, 2016 | 34.2% | National Council on Aging, article dated 9 November 2020 |
| Older adult households owing on a mortgage, a home equity line of credit, or both | 29.2% | National Council on Aging, article dated 9 November 2020 |
Confirm these 4 before you sign
None of these appear in the sales brochure, and each changes what the policy is worth to you. Ask for it in writing, in the policy and the outline of coverage for your state, and do not take our word or anyone else's for it.
- Which states it is written in comes from the carrier's agent material, not from the brochure. The brochure says only that benefits and riders vary by state. The carrier's tip sheet lists the states, and that sheet is marked for agent use, so we will not present it to you as a cited fact. We have used it in the direction that can only help you — if it says a state is not on the list, this page treats the policy as unavailable there. Ask us and we will confirm your state with the carrier in writing before you fill anything in.
- In Florida the age bands and the maximum are different. The brochure's bands would give a 40-year-old up to $50,000. The carrier's Florida column runs from 0 to 85 at a maximum of $25,000 throughout. That is less than the consumer brochure promises, which is exactly why it is here rather than left to be found at application. Confirm the Florida figures before you apply.
- There is a minimum as well as a maximum, and health questions can decline you outright. The carrier's agent material sets a minimum face amount as well as the maximum the brochure prints, and describes underwriting that can decline an application on the answers alone rather than rate it. None of that is in the consumer brochure. Tell us your situation before you apply and we will tell you whether it is worth applying.
- If this would replace a policy you already hold, read the replacement notice first. The carrier's own replacement notice says it plainly: you will pay acquisition costs, there may be surrender costs, and you may be able to change the policy you already have to meet your needs at less cost. Using the value of an old policy to pay for a new one is a replacement too, and it reduces what the old one would have paid. Nobody at this agency benefits from you not asking that question.
- Issue ages
- 0 to 85, with the maximum benefit falling as the age rises: $50,000 from 0 to 49, $25,000 from 50 to 80 and $15,000 from 81 to 85. Applicants aged 50 to 85 complete a different application from younger ones.
- Renewability
- Permanent whole life. The brochure states that the death benefit, the premium rate and the cash value will never change, whatever happens to interest rates or anything else.
- Policy form
- 4-790 (10). Form numbers and benefits vary by state.
Required disclosures from Standard Life and Casualty
Benefits and riders may vary by state and may not be available in all states.
This is not a complete disclosure of plan qualifications and limitations. Please access our website to obtain a completed list for the Final Expense product at disclosure.manhattanlife.com. Please review this information before applying for coverage. The amounts of benefits provided depend on the plan selected. Premiums will vary according to the selection made.
This brochure only provides a brief description of the important features of your policy. Only the actual policy provisions will control; therefore, it is important that you READ YOUR POLICY CAREFULLY.
Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood, Tennessee, an Aetna company — Protection Series Final Expense Individual Whole Life
Every benefit below is transcribed from the Continental Life Protection Series Final Expense individual whole life brochure CLIFE07523, and from the Aetna Senior Supplemental Insurance company profile CGFMP08395, which states the A.M. Best rating and its date. Benefits, riders and amounts vary by state, and the policy issued to you governs.
Only a level plan is offered, and it pays in full from day one
The full face value is payable from the policy issue date whether death is due to an accident or to natural causes. In every policy year, a non-accidental death pays the full benefit.
This company offers no modified or graded version of this policy at all, which is the plainest answer to the question our footer tells you to ask. Compare it against the modified plan published below, where the first two years pay back premium instead.
How much cover, and the ceiling falls with age
The minimum death benefit is $2,000 at every issue age. The maximum is $50,000 from age 45 to 55, $40,000 from 56 to 65, $30,000 from 66 to 75 and $25,000 from 76 to 89.
Age is taken as of the last birthday, so the band you fall into on the day the policy is issued is the band that sets your ceiling.
An annual policy fee
The brochure states an annual policy fee of $40 on the level plan.
It is charged on top of the premium. Worth knowing when you compare a monthly figure against another company’s.
Cash value, and what borrowing against it costs
The policy builds cash value over time, and you can borrow against it with policy loans exceeding $1,000 for any reason. An annual interest rate and fees apply, and the brochure states that benefits may be reduced by any loan balance on the policy at the time of death.
That last sentence is the one to read twice. Money borrowed and not repaid comes out of what your beneficiary receives.
If you stop paying: the non-forfeiture options
Reduced paid-up insurance gives your beneficiary a death benefit reduced to the amount of life insurance the accrued cash value will buy. Extended term insurance gives level term cover for the full death benefit but for a shorter period. An automatic premium loan takes the accrued cash value and applies it toward the premium. You may elect the option at application and change it in writing at any time during your lifetime.
The brochure is explicit that in the early years there may be insufficient cash value for any of the three, and that the option is triggered only when a premium remains unpaid at the end of the grace period and there is enough cash value.
A 30 day free look
The brochure states a 30 day free look period with a right to cancel and a 100% refund.
Premiums timed to the Social Security deposit schedule
If you are on Social Security, the carrier sets up automatic payments to line up with the Social Security benefit deposit schedule.
Optional riders
Accidental death benefits rider
Pays 100% of the base policy’s face amount for accidental death, for issue ages 45 through 70.
Children's term insurance rider
Covers a child, stepchild, legally adopted child, grandchild, legally adopted grandchild or great grandchild, from $2,500 up to $10,000 per child in $2,500 increments. The amount is the same for every covered child and may not exceed the face amount of the base policy. Issue ages run from older than 30 days to less than 18 years, and the policy becomes convertible to a whole life policy between the ages of 22 and 25 after two years in force.
The numbers behind the product
None of the figures below is a policy benefit and none of them is ours. They are third-party research quoted in the company's brochure, and each one is shown with who produced it and when, because a statistic is only true of the year it was measured in.
| What | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Average cost of a funeral not including the cemetery plot, tombstone and other related fees | $7,640 or more | National Funeral Directors Association, undated in the carrier's 2022 brochure |
| How much less a cremation costs than a traditional funeral the other final expense brochure on this page cites the same body for a different answer — read both | about 30% less | National Funeral Directors Association, undated in the carrier's 2022 brochure; its chart compares 2014 with 2019 |
| Social Security lump sum death payment to qualified dependents | $255 | Social Security Administration, undated in the carrier's 2022 brochure |
| Veterans Administration burial benefit | $300 | Social Security Administration publication cited by the carrier, undated in the carrier's 2022 brochure |
Confirm this one before you sign
This does not appear in the sales brochure, and it changes what the policy is worth to you. Ask for it in writing, in the policy and the outline of coverage for your state, and do not take our word or anyone else's for it.
- The super preferred rate, and what actually qualifies you for it The brochure says you may qualify for a super preferred rate on this policy if you currently hold an Aetna affiliated Medicare Supplement policy. It does not say how much lower that rate is, or what counts as currently holding one. The other Aetna-family policy published below states its own version as a percentage with a time limit attached, and the two are not the same offer. Get yours confirmed in writing before you let it decide which policy you buy.
- Issue ages
- 45 to 89, age as of last birthday. The minimum death benefit is $2,000 at every age and the maximum falls as the age rises.
- Underwriting
- No medical exam. Issue of the policy and the plan type depend on the answers to the health questions in the application, and the brochure says you can find out the same day whether you are pre-approved.
- Renewability
- Renewable for life regardless of changes in health, guaranteed non-cancelable as long as the premiums are paid on time, with premium rates that never increase and coverage and benefits that never decrease.
- Financial strength
- Rated “A” (Excellent) by A.M. Best as of 13 March 2024 — the third highest of sixteen ratings, which is the part the letter on its own does not tell you. It is a view of the insurer’s ability to pay claims, not a comment on this policy, and it can be changed at any time.
Required disclosures from Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood, Tennessee, an Aetna company
Not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or the Federal Medicare Program.
For complete details of all provisions or benefits, please read your policy carefully.
Accendo Insurance Company, part of the CVS Health family of companies and an Aetna affiliate — Final Expense Whole Life
Every benefit below is transcribed from the Accendo Final Expense whole life brochure ACCFE05984. Benefits, riders and amounts vary by state, and the policy issued to you governs.
Read this first: there is a level plan and a MODIFIED plan, and they are not the same promise
On the level plan the full face value is payable from the policy issue date whether death is due to an accident or to natural causes, in every policy year. On the modified plan the full face value is payable immediately only if death is due to an accident; for a non-accidental death, policy years 1 and 2 pay 110% of earned premium and the full benefit begins in policy year 3.
This is the graded death benefit our footer tells every reader to ask about, sold by name. It is a legitimate product and it exists because it will take people the level plan will not — but if you die of natural causes in month six, it pays back a little more than you have paid in and nothing else. Ask which plan you are being quoted, every time.
How much cover, and the ceiling falls with age
On the level plan the minimum death benefit is $2,000 and the maximum is $50,000 from age 40 to 55, $40,000 from 56 to 65, $30,000 from 66 to 75 and $25,000 from 76 to 89. On the modified plan the minimum is $2,000 and the maximum is $25,000 across the whole issue range of 40 to 75.
An annual policy fee
The brochure states an annual policy fee of $40.
Cash value, and what borrowing against it costs
The policy builds cash value over time, and you can borrow against it with policy loans exceeding $1,000 for any reason. An annual interest rate and fees apply. The accelerated death benefit is itself paid less any policy loan.
Money borrowed and not repaid reduces what is left for the beneficiary. That is true of every whole life policy and it is worth saying out loud.
If you stop paying: the non-forfeiture options
Reduced paid-up insurance gives your beneficiary a death benefit reduced to the amount of life insurance the accrued cash value will buy. Extended term insurance gives level term cover for the full death benefit but for a shorter period. An automatic premium loan takes the accrued cash value and applies it toward the premium. You may elect the option at application and change it in writing at any time during your lifetime.
The brochure is explicit that in the early years there may be insufficient cash value for any of the three.
Premiums timed to the Social Security deposit schedule
If you are on Social Security, the carrier sets up automatic payments to line up with the Social Security benefit deposit schedule.
Optional riders
Accelerated death benefit rider, on the level plan only
Pays up to 50% of the death benefit, less any policy loan, if a physician certifies in writing that the insured meets the definition of a qualifying event — a medical condition resulting in a terminal, chronic or critical illness with a life expectancy of 12 months or less. The minimum benefit is $1,000 and the maximum is $15,000, and an administrative fee of $200 is taken from the benefit amount.
This is an acceleration of your own death benefit, not long-term care insurance and not a health policy. What it pays out now, it does not pay to your beneficiary later.
Accidental death benefits rider, on the level plan only
Pays 100% of the base policy’s face amount for accidental death, for issue ages 40 through 70.
Children's term insurance rider, on the level plan only
Covers a child, stepchild, legally adopted child, grandchild, legally adopted grandchild or great grandchild, from $2,500 up to $10,000 per child in $2,500 increments. The amount is the same for every covered child and may not exceed the face amount of the base policy. Issue ages run from older than 30 days to less than 18 years, and the policy becomes convertible to a whole life policy between the ages of 22 and 25 after two years in force.
All three riders are available on the level plan only. A buyer who can only take the modified plan cannot add any of them.
The numbers behind the product
None of the figures below is a policy benefit and none of them is ours. They are third-party research quoted in the company's brochure, and each one is shown with who produced it and when, because a statistic is only true of the year it was measured in.
| What | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Average cost of a funeral, on this carrier's figure the other final expense brochure on this page quotes the same body at a higher figure and does not date it | $7,360 or more | National Funeral Directors Association, 2020, as this carrier's own citation dates it |
| How much less a cremation costs, on this carrier's figure the other brochure on this page cites the same body for about 30% less, comparing 2014 with 2019 — the same research, two different answers, which is why every figure here carries its own date | only 15% less | National Funeral Directors Association, undated in the carrier's 2022 brochure; its chart compares 2014 with 2017 |
Confirm these two before you sign
None of these appear in the sales brochure, and each changes what the policy is worth to you. Ask for it in writing, in the policy and the outline of coverage for your state, and do not take our word or anyone else's for it.
- The super preferred rate, and the 180 day condition on it The brochure says you may qualify for a super preferred rate on this plan, which it puts at 10% lower than the preferred rate, if an Accendo or Aetna Medicare Supplement policy was issued to you in the last 180 days. That is a narrow window and it is not the same offer the other Aetna-family policy on this page makes. Get the rate you are actually being quoted in writing before it decides anything.
- Which plan you are being quoted Level and modified are both sold under the same product name and the riders attach to the level plan only. The brochure does not say what puts an applicant on one rather than the other. Ask, in writing, which plan the quote in front of you is for.
- Issue ages
- 40 to 89 on the level plan and 40 to 75 on the modified plan, age as of last birthday. The minimum death benefit is $2,000 on both.
- Renewability
- Whole life. The brochure states a 30 day free look and non-forfeiture options if premiums stop.
Required disclosures from Accendo Insurance Company, part of the CVS Health family of companies and an Aetna affiliate
Not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or the Federal Medicare Program.
Policy administered by Aetna Life Insurance Company and its affiliates
For complete details of all provisions or benefits, please read your policy carefully.
Who we are appointed with
We are independent and appointed with the life insurance companies below. Which of them we would approach for you depends on the product, your age, your state and your health history — underwriting differs sharply between companies, and that is the practical reason for working with someone who can approach more than one.
- Aetna
- Allianz Life
- American-Amicable Life
- Americo
- Ameritas
- Assurity
- Athene
- AuguStar Financial
- Banner Life
- Brighthouse Financial
- Cincinnati Life
- Columbus Life
- Corebridge Financial
- Equitable
- EquiTrust Life
- F&G Life
- Foresters Financial
- Gerber Life
- Guarantee Trust Life (GTL)
- John Hancock
- Lafayette Life
- Liberty Bankers Life
- Lincoln Financial Group
- Manhattan Life
- MassMutual
- Mutual of Omaha
- Mutual Trust Life
- National Life Group (Life Insurance Company of the Southwest)
- National Western Life
- Nationwide
- New York Life
- North American Company for Life and Health
- OneAmerica
- Pacific Life
- Petersen International Underwriters (Lloyd's of London)
- Principal
- Protective Life
- Prudential
- Royal Neighbors of America
- Sagicor Life
- SBLI
- Securian Financial (Minnesota Life)
- Standard Life and Casualty
- Security Mutual Life
- Symetra
- Transamerica
- William Penn Life
- Zurich
Being appointed with a company does not mean that company offers every product on this page, and we do not represent every insurer. Which company suits you depends on the product, your age, your state and your health history. We publish no benefit, rate or feature for any company here until we can cite it to that company's own current material.
Servicing only — not available for new business
We can help with an existing policy from this company — reviewing it or understanding what you already own. We are not appointed to write new business with it, so a new policy would be placed with one of the companies above.
- Genworth
Questions people actually ask
Is burial insurance the same as a prepaid funeral plan?
No, and the difference matters. Burial insurance is a life insurance policy that pays cash to a beneficiary you name, who may spend it on anything. A prepaid funeral plan is a contract with a specific funeral home for specific goods and services. A prepaid plan can lock in today's prices, but it is tied to that provider, and it can be difficult to move if you relocate or the home changes hands.
What is a graded death benefit, and will my policy have one?
A graded death benefit means that if you die of natural causes during the first two or three years, the policy pays back your premiums plus interest rather than the full face amount. Accidental death is normally paid in full from day one. Guaranteed issue policies effectively always work this way; simplified issue policies usually pay in full immediately, though some grade the benefit for higher-risk applicants. This is the single most important thing to establish before you sign anything, and any agent should tell you without being asked.
Can I be turned down?
With simplified issue, yes — there is a short health questionnaire and a prescription-history check, and some conditions are declined. With guaranteed issue there are no health questions and acceptance is guaranteed within the age band, which is exactly why it carries the waiting period and costs more per dollar of coverage. Being declined by one company does not mean being declined by all of them; underwriting differs, which is the practical reason to work with someone who can approach more than one.
Could I pay in more than the policy pays out?
Yes, it is possible, and you should understand how before you buy. These are small policies with premiums payable for life, so somebody who buys at an older age and then lives a long time can pay in more than the face amount. Whole life builds cash value, which softens that, and some policies stop requiring premiums at a stated age. Ask for the specific policy's paid-up age and its cash value — a straight answer to this question tells you a great deal about who you are dealing with.
How much should I buy?
Start from the actual number rather than a round one: get a current general price list from a local funeral home, which they are required to provide, add the cemetery costs, and add whatever small debts would otherwise fall to your family. That total is your answer. Buying more than that is buying life insurance for a different purpose, which is fine — but it should be a decision you made, not a number an agent suggested.
Ask for a quote on Burial Insurance
Tell us how to reach you and which state you are in. A licensed agent calls back, usually the same business day, and will tell you plainly if a fully underwritten policy would serve you better.
The other three
Same family, different jobs. Match the product to how long the need lasts.
Term Life Insurance
A death benefit for a fixed number of years, at the lowest cost per dollar of coverage of any life product. Bought when someone depends on your income and the need has an end date.
Worth a look if someone depends on your income and you can name roughly when that stops being true.
Whole Life Insurance
Permanent coverage with a guaranteed death benefit, a guaranteed level premium and a guaranteed cash value schedule. The guarantees are the product, and they are what you pay for.
Worth a look if the need genuinely never ends and you can sustain the premium for decades.
Indexed Universal Life Insurance
Universal life whose interest credit is linked to the movement of a market index, limited by a cap or participation rate and protected by a floor. Flexible, genuinely complicated, and the most aggressively marketed life product there is.
Worth a look if you want permanent coverage with flexibility and will actually read the illustration.