The thought of planning one’s funeral isn’t typically at the top of someone’s to-do list. But should it be?
Planning a funeral for a deceased relative, significant other or friend is ranked as one of the most difficult tasks in life when funeral arrangements aren’t made ahead of time.
Funeral homes offer a way to arrange one’s funeral through pre-needs planning.
According to Rob Mickelson, from Mickelson Funeral and Cremation Service, and Ginger Swedberg Huntington, from Swedberg Funeral Home, both based in Shawano, planning your funeral in advance makes sure your wishes are honored.
“Services are not for the deceased,” Swedberg Huntington said. “I mean, they honor the deceased, but it benefits the living.”
She said that she often hears, “When my mom died, she didn’t have anything done, and I don’t want to do that to my kids.”
Pre-needs planning helps someone get the funeral and burial services they want and removes the burden from family members.
A lot of difficult choices have to be made when someone dies. She said pre-needs planning helps avoid the stress of trying to guess what services the deceased person wanted.
“When someone’s just had a death, are experiencing great grief or shock, they still need to arrange the funeral services, where they can be hit with choosing a casket, providing a maiden name, a Social Security number and many other things,” Swedberg Huntington said.
Pre-planning keeps people from experiencing that one extra thing in their busy lives that comes up without warning, according to Swedberg Huntington.
“If I can help plant the seed: That it’s good to have everything in place,” she said. “Just doing pre-planning doesn’t mean that your death isn’t going to come any faster.”
Swedberg Huntington said that it may be a good time to think about pre-needs planning with a funeral provider at the time that someone meets with an attorney to create a will.
Mickelson’s opinion matches that of Swedberg Huntington in that making plans through a financial adviser may not be the best avenue for setting aside funds for future funeral needs, which should be done with a funeral provider.
“You don’t take your car to a plumber to get your car fixed,” he said. “Financial people are wonderful, but they don’t have the resources that we have here to give true cost amounts. We’ve experienced cases where the funds weren’t adequate to pay for the funeral.”
He said that he doesn’t care where they put the money, but someone should at least get a true estimate of what to put aside by meeting with a funeral director first. Meeting with him in this scenario also ensures that the services the person wants will be documented by Mickelson for the future.
According to Swedberg Huntington, the pre-needs benefit is multifaceted. It makes it easier for the family to review what can be put into place ahead of time, and it gets the conversation started.
Both Swedberg Huntington and Mickelson encourage having a family discussion about what the person’s pre-need planning will entail.
“It’s probably one of the most difficult things you can do in your life, if not the most difficult,” Mickelson said about sitting down to talk about one’s final wishes. “When I do pre-needs planning with someone, one of the most important things that I tell people is to bring their kids in, so your family knows what’s going on.”
Mickelson said that it is important for children or other family members to attend the pre-needs planning meeting with the person, so that everyone knows what to expect.
Mickelson feels that many Shawano residents don’t have the funds to be able to set up pre-needs plans, that it is more important for them to put food on the table.
“It’s a challenging time,” he said. “We have to be really cautious with what we do and how we do it. People want to know that if they ‘pre-need’ their money, will it be safe? ‘Where’s this money going? Could I lose it?’”
Mickelson stressed that setting up a pre-needs fund will protect the money.
Both Mickelson and Swedberg Huntington said that the interest rates paid on the plans they establish through their insurance providers will be enough to cover any future funeral increases.
Mickelson said that’s why it’s so important to meet with a funeral director for pre-needs planning, to get all of the available options, to get all questions answered. He said that he tells people up-front what the cost would be if the funeral were to be needed that day.
There are online resources on both funeral providers’ websites to get more information about pre-needs planning before meeting with them at www.mickelsonfs.com and www.swedbergfuneralhome.com.
In addition to pre-planning someone’s funeral, pre-needs planning is also done for people who need to reduce their assets to become eligible for Medicaid. Medicaid eligibility is dependent on how much money someone has.
Both Mickelson and Swedberg Huntington are well-versed in Medicaid eligibility factors and are able to assist individuals who are looking to set aside funds for Medicaid purposes.
Swedberg Huntington said that in the Shawano area, there is a lot of motivation to prepare for Medicaid eligibility.
“I was born and raised in Shawano. The values that we have as a small community are representative of how we do business,” she said. “We feel very privileged and honored to provide services for our extended family, our community.”
Mickelson said that “nothing beats the face-to-face” discussion about pre-needs planning.
“I want to talk to you,” he said. “I want you to know what you’re going to be up against and what we’re going to do for you.”
Rob Mickelson, left, and Payton DuBois are Shawano funeral providers who work with area residents to set up pre-needs contracts for funeral arrangements. Pre-needs planning is important for people to make sure their wishes for their future funerals are followed. Pre-needs planning also helps people set aside funds to help them become or stay eligible for Medicaid. (Lynn Zaffrann)
