Life Insurance vs Burial Insurance
You may have seen or heard ads on television or radio discussing the benefits of burial insurance. These ads sometimes feature older celebrity spokespeople who appeal to the senior audience of which they are targeted. So, what is burial insurance and does it differ from life insurance?
Origins of Burial Insurance
Believe it or not, burial insurance traces its roots back centuries, when the Greeks and Romans had burial “clubs” where members could pool resources to take care of the burial needs of its members and their families. Many of these clubs were created for those with few financial resources. Eventually, responsibility for burial expenses became more individualized and burial insurance was created. Burial insurance was designed just to cover the direct expenses involved with a burial. It was from this that life insurance evolved.
Evolvement of Life Insurance
Eventually, carrying just enough insurance to cover a burial evolved into more expansive life insurance policies. These policies not only covered burial expenses but could cover the costs of debt the deceased may have left behind. Today, life insurance can accommodate the costs of a college education, estate planning and even leave a financial legacy in the name of the deceased.
Burial Insurance Today
So why is the term “burial insurance” still used today, especially when targeting an older audience? Because many can relate to the days when life insurance was only used to cover burial expenses. Many can remember their parents paying five or twenty-five cents a week to an insurance company for burial insurance. Perhaps most importantly, many older Americans don’t have sufficient life insurance to cover much more than their final expenses. In many cases, at their age, securing anything more than “burial expenses” would be cost-prohibitive for seniors.
It is why securing life insurance while one is relatively young and healthy is so valuable. What a senior may pay for a few thousand or even just hundreds of dollars in coverage, a younger person may be able to acquire tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of coverage. Our independent insurance agents can show you how this works in real life. They can demonstrate how costs escalate for life insurance as people age. You can see for yourself why now may be the best time for you to assess your life insurance needs.
Contact our independent agents for a no-obligation life insurance quote today. We look forward to assisting you.
