Do
- Learn the industry basics so you don’t get taken advantage of.
- Create your Simple Plan.
- Write a simple Will.
- Cross-off items on your Checklist as you complete them.
- Enjoy thinking of your farewell as a continually evolving Project.
- Embrace technology as a tool that can help.
- Create Video Letters for your family & friends.
- Using the FP App & Too Much Stuff feature video & record who gets what (at least for your major items).
- See what other people are planning for their farewell.
- Explore green options & new alternatives. There’s some amazing things out there.
- Talk to family/friends about what you want.
- Know costs. What you’re paying and what it’s for.
- Setup a Simple Savings Account specifically for your farewell that you own.
- Think about your digital footprint and what items are most important.
- Schedule an Exit Interview.
Don’t
- Blindly follow the directives of a funeral director (or anyone).
- Go into the farewell process with no education or information.
- Pre-Pay for anything! With a funeral home, cemetery, crematory. No one!
- Accept no for an answer. If you want it for your goodbye, you can have it.
- Plan nothing.
- Assume people know what you want for your farewell.
- Be afraid to demand full transparency with prices: an exact itemized list.
- Fear death. We all do it. You, me, even the bees.
- Feel like an idiot. Most people don’t know anything about any of this stuff. You’re not alone. You’re not stupid. You simply don’t know what you don’t know.
- Guess what someone wants for their farewell. You either know definitively because they told you (or wrote it down at the Farewell Project) or you don’t.
- Leave it to your family/friends to pay for your farewell.
- Hold grudges. Except with Gary, he knows what he did.
- Be an unnecessary burden on your family/friends.
- Believe that you have to use a funeral director. In 42 states you don’t. (And in the other 8 all that’s required is you pay the Basic Services Fee)
- Embalm. It’s required by no law anywhere. And only really needed if you’re doing a viewing/open casket.
And our #1 Advice! Don’t Pre-Pay. Do Pre-Talk. Do Pre-Plan.