Funeral Bill is the 3rd Largest Lump Sum Expense of your life: 1. House 2. Automobile 3. Death (Funeral)

Average American funeral cost: $8,000 – $10,000.

Yet people are unprepared: lacking basic end-of-life education (They do zero research). 71% of American Adults have No Will or Plan in place. 90% do not “Shop Around.” People are “Flying Blind” and putting their trust in the funeral director. Forced to make decisions when they are not in a “rational state of mind” but under stress from grief.

Even though 78% of American deaths are “Anticipated.” No one Learns or Plans.

Over 2.5 million people die in the USA annually. Over 6,000 daily.

Fastest growing segment of the US population is over 85 years old. 10,000 baby boomers turn 73 every day. In 30 years, there will be as many people over age 80 as under 5.

Fastest growing religion in America = No Religion (20%). People are moving, not staying in the same location (or hometown) their whole lives.

Cremation Rate is exploding: 4% in 1961 21% in 1996 51% in 2019

Death Rate rising: 8.6 in 1999 10.24 in 2020

Death Rate supports 9,000 funeral homes. There are currently over 22,000 funeral homes and over 20,000 cemeteries.

In 42 states: you Don’t have to use a funeral director/home. In the other 8: you only have to pay the Basic Services Fee ($1,000-$2,500).

The Body is a downer. Boomers want a Celebration of life. Rise of “Green” burials.

EACH YEAR IN THE UNITED STATES WE BURY:

• 4,300,000 gallons of embalming fluid, 827,060 gallons of that is formaldehyde, methanol and benzene. That’s enough embalming fluid to fill 8 Olympic-size swimming pools.

• 180,544,000 pounds of steel, 5,400,000 pounds of copper and bronze in caskets – which can leach iron, copper, lead, zinc and cobalt into the environment. More steel, in caskets alone, than was used to build the Golden Gate Bridge.

• 30,000,000 board feet of hardwoods in caskets, including rainforest woods.

• 3,272,000,000 pounds of reinforced concrete vaults and 28,000,000 pounds of steel in vaults. Enough concrete to construct a 2-lane highway from New York City to Detroit.

Cremation isn’t much better, as the process uses fossil fuels to reach and maintain 1,900 degrees Fahrenheit for more than two hours, which release mercury into the air and water, and creates byproducts like nitrogen oxide, dioxins and particulates that are found in acid rain.

1 Cremation uses the equivalent energy of driving your car 500 miles.