When planning for your family’s future, the costs of funerals can’t be ignored. You can either ensure your life insurance pay-out is sufficient to cover the costs plus leave some extra for your loved ones to cover other expenses such as living costs or your debts or you can pre-pay your funeral costs.

These policies can also be bought separately from your life insurance, enabling your loved ones to keep more of the life insurance pay out they receive upon your death.

As with everything though, there are certain things you should know about funeral plans so you can decide if it’s worth having one of these plans in place, whether it’s on its own or in addition to your life insurance policy.

What your family receive with a life insurance policy

A cash lump sum

It should be noted though that you will need to have your life insurance policy in place early. The reason for this, is that next to no insurer will pay out a guaranteed lump sum should you die within the first year of taking out your policy. Then you have to keep the payments up because if you start missing them, you could forfeit the premiums paid, leaving your family out of pocket.

More leeway for your loved ones to spend the money as they like

You may have debts, you may have a mortgage, and you may just want to leave some cash to your loved ones to help ease their life a little. One thing’s for sure and that’s the fact that leaving some money behind for your loved ones will make their life easier when you aren’t around to provide for them.

With a life insurance pay-out, the money is there for them to spend as they wish or require. The only thing they may need to dip into it for is to cover the burial costs, be it a ground burial or a cremation burial. A cremation burial is the cheapest.

What your family get with a funeral plan

• Your wishes catered to because you make the arrangements
• Your plan will cover the majority of expenses (not all) eliminating some of the financial stress
• Your loved ones don’t need to deal with as much of the difficult decisions since you’ll have made the arrangements already such as your coffin and funeral directors of choice etc.
• Your price is locked in at today’s price, thus protected against inflation. That’s a potential savings of thousands of pounds, giving that today’s price for a gravesite burial is estimated to cost £3,702 on average.

What you need to know that isn’t covered by a funeral plan

When you buy a funeral plan, you’re not going to get everything fully inclusive.

These are items you can expect not to be covered by a funeral plan:

• Any catering costs
• The price of venue hire
• Any costs associated with the removal of prosthetic limbs or other living aids such as a pacemaker
• Burial plots
• Headstone
• Flowers
• Organist and/or a choir
• Doctor’s fees for medical and/or death certificates
• Limousine hire

Looking at the list of things that’s not included in the majority of funeral plans will give you a real sense of what’s going to be better for you.

If you look at the list above and think that you’d want the majority of those fees covered in your funeral plan, then life insurance is your best bet. The lump sum pay-out will be able to be spent by your loved ones to carry out whatever your wishes are.

Of course, you can have both so that some of your funeral plans are covered, with your life insurance providing some cash to use to cover any excess.

What not to expect is to have a funeral plan that covers the entire cost of a burial. In fact, some will only cover a cremation burial and only pay £1200 towards the cost of a ground burial.

The bottom line is to ensure you read the small print and know what your plans cover and do not cover. You may be surprised by what’s not.

Regular exercise is a major component of a healthy lifestyle.

Unfortunately, we are less active than previous generations were, partially due to our improved lifestyles.

Studies show that many adults sit down for more than seven hours a day.

People older than 65 are the most sedentary age group, spending at least 10 hours lying or sitting down. Age causes the body to slow down but this is not a valid reason to avoid exercise.

The Cost of Inactivity

The Department of health calls inactivity a “silent killer.” There is evidence that long periods of sitting or lying down and other sedentary behavior is detrimental to health. Exercise can reduce risk of diabetes, stroke, cancer, heart disease, and other major illnesses by up to 50 percent and reduce risk of an early death by as much as 30 percent.

It can also reduce risk of depression, stress, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia. Mood, self-esteem, energy, and quality of sleep improve with physical activity. Exercise is a miracle cure that is easy to administer and does not cost any money.

Exercising During the Senior Years

Elderly people tend to worry that their bodies cannot handle exercise. The truth is that lack of physical activity can make their bodies frail so elderly individuals should exercise to prevent this from happening.

Regular physical activity can delay or prevent the onset of many age-related health conditions, allowing people to look and feel better for a longer period. Those with term life insurance may even outlive their policies!

Older adults who do not have mobility-limiting health conditions and are fit should engage in muscle-strengthening and aerobic activities on a weekly basis. In terms of amount, 2 ½ hours of fast walking, cycling, or other aerobic activity of moderate intensity and at least two days of muscle-strengthening activities that work all of the major muscle groups are sufficient.

Muscle-strengthening exercises should focus on the back, legs, abdomen, hips, arms, shoulders, and chest.

For most people, fast walking, water aerobics, canoeing, pushing a lawn mower, and playing doubles tennis require moderate effort. These activities increase heart rate and cause people to feel warmer and breathe faster.

Even cooking, housework, and shopping count as moderate-intensity activity. In general, if you can talk but not sing a song, the exercise is of moderate intensity.

Those who prefer aerobic activity of vigorous intensity should engage in an hour and 15 minutes of this each week and perform muscle-strengthening activities at least two days a week. A game of singles tennis, running, uphill hiking, riding a bike quickly, and martial arts are examples of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity.

The heart rate increases substantially, you breathe fast and hard, and you must pause for a breath after saying a few words.

Approximately 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity can provide health benefits similar to those achieved from 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity. Aerobic activity of moderate and vigorous intensity can also be combined in an equivalent mix and supplemented by muscle-strengthening activities.

For each exercise that strengthens muscles, perform eight to 12 repetitions and do at least one set of these.

Being young is a blessing in many ways. This is the time to enjoy life and begin a career and family. Few young people think of negative things like dying. However, death can strike at any age and many young adults are not prepared for it. People in their 20s may think that they are too young to purchase or even think about life insurance but they are wrong. The early professional years is the perfect timeframe to consider this cover.

Why Purchase Life Insurance So Young

Anyone who is just starting out and is married or has children should think about how a spouse or child will be impacted by his or her death. Dying may seem a long way off but it could occur tomorrow. If dependents are not provided for financially, they may struggle for many years. It is best to purchase life insurance once you begin earning money, even if marriage and children are not immediate prospects but are possibilities.

An untimely death takes everyone by surprise and young people may not have time to prepare for this. Many young adults die suddenly without making arrangements for handling their financial matters. Loved ones are left to cover funeral expenses, repay debts, and handle the mortgage.

They may not be able to afford these expenses in addition to their own. Even a young person without dependents should consider a life policy to cover funeral costs, which can be thousands of pounds.

Life insurance costs less for someone who is young and healthy, another reason to buy it during the early career stage. This low rate can be locked in for as long as 30 years. People who wait to purchase life insurance until they are 40 or older will pay more money for the same cover.

In addition to age, medical issues like heart conditions that develop during this time will affect premiums. Low risk individuals pay less for life cover and people who are young and in good health are considered low risk.

What Type of Insurance to Buy

Term life and whole life are the two main types of life insurance. Term life covers a specified period, paying a lump sum if the individual dies during this time. Young people should consider a long-term policy so they receive reasonably priced cover for many years.

Whole life lasts for a lifetime so it always pays a benefit. For this reason, it is more expensive than term life is. Purchasing a whole life policy when young will protect the individual for a lifetime at a cost that is much lower what than older policyholders pay.

Since each type of cover is offered by multiple providers, young adults should comparison-shop to find the term or whole life policy they want at the best price. As a life insurance comparison website, Genesage makes it quick and easy to receive quotes for both types of policies.

Simply fill out a quote request form and within a short time, personalised quotes will be delivered from all applicable providers. There is no need to visit the website of each provider because all of the information is available from Genesage Life Quotes.

No one expects love ones to struggle financially as a result of his or her death. Unfortunately, this is happening more often within the UK as deceased individuals leave mortgages, debts, and other financial obligations for survivors to handle. Being saddled with debt can make anyone look less favourably upon the deceased.

People who would rather be remembered fondly get their finances in order and purchase life insurance before it is needed.

Who Needs Life Insurance?

Anyone who has a dependent should consider buying life insurance. A dependent may be a spouse, child, elderly parent, or other relative who depends on your financial support. Even people with no dependents should think about purchasing life cover if they have substantial debts or joint mortgages or loans with friends or business partners. Otherwise, the individuals handling their estates may be forced to repay these obligations, something that may not be in their budgets.

A change in life situation can also make life insurance an important consideration. Examples include getting married, becoming a parent, buying a home, moving, or taking out a large loan. If one household member becomes the main income provider due to another losing a job, the new breadwinner should consider buying life insurance. Cover is available at reasonable prices, making it affordable if purchased at the right time.

The Best Time to Buy Life Cover

A fixed-rate life insurance policy is usually less expensive when the applicant is young and healthy. This is because the risk of the individual dying is relatively low. Unfortunately, this is also the time when most people do not consider buying life cover. No one is invincible and death can strike at any time so having a policy in place now can prevent financial problems for beneficiaries later.

Life Insurance Payouts

Most life insurance policies pay lump sums when claims are filed upon the death of the policyholders. There are also some that pay incrementally over a pre-determined period. A mortgage is the largest debt that most people have, leading many people to purchase enough life cover to repay their mortgage balances.

However, life payouts may also be used to replace income, provide childcare, or cover higher education costs. They can even be used to cover regular living expenses such as monthly bills, groceries, clothing, and housecleaning expenses.

Which Type of Life Cover is Best?

Term and whole of life are the two main types of life insurance. Term insurance covers a fixed period so it is usually less expensive than whole of life is, which lasts for a lifetime. When people purchase term insurance, they buy a policy that extends long enough to cover the mortgage term or cover dependents until they can become financially independent. If the insured dies after the insurance policy term ends, no payout is made.

Term insurance is divided into level and decreasing term. Level term pays the same amount at any time during the lifetime of the policy and decreasing term pays a lump sum that decreases by a preset amount each year. Level term cover is often used to repay an interest-only mortgage and decreasing term cover is typically purchased by someone with a repayment mortgage, whose balance declines each year.

A level or decreasing term life policy is a smart purchase for someone with a joint mortgage. If the policyholder dies, the surviving mortgage holder can use the payout to cover all or a portion of the mortgage payments. This prevents the survivor from having to cover the entire mortgage payment him or herself.

Some employers offer life insurance as an employee benefit and this cover may include a death in service provision. This usually equates to a payout of approximately four times the salary of the policyholder should the individual die while employed by the business.

This may or may not be enough money to support the current standard of living of beneficiaries. If additional life cover is needed, consumers should shop around to find the most reasonable premium for a sufficient amount of additional cover.

Inheritance tax is imposed on some trusts, gifts, and estates of deceased individuals. UK residents are not automatically required to make an inheritance tax payment. This charge applies only when the value of an estate exceeds the government-imposed threshold, which tends to change each year.

The threshold for 2013-14 is £325,000 and a 40 percent tax is imposed on the estate value that exceeds this figure. If the estate qualifies for a reduced rate due to a charitable donation the tax rate is 36 percent.

Who is Responsible for Inheritance Tax Payment

When someone dies, the executor or personal representative of his or her estate is usually accountable for the inheritance tax payment. The value of an estate is calculated by summing values of the included assets and deducting any existing debts of the deceased, which may include funeral expenses.

Gifts that the deceased made while living that do not qualify for exemption must be counted when valuing the estate. The inheritance payment is made from estate funds.

In most situations, inheritance tax must be paid by no later than six months from the end of the month of death. Interest charges apply to any amount outstanding after this time. It the estate value includes property such as a home, inheritance tax may be paid in instalments on an annual basis over a period of ten years.

The inheritance tax interest rate is three percent and instalment payment interest is 0.5 percent. These rates have not changed since September 2009.

Inheritance Tax Threshold Adjustment

A surviving married or registered  may increase the threshold for inheritance tax on his or her estate when the other party dies. This rule was put into place in October 2007 and for 2013-14 the estate may be increased to £650,000.

The executor or personal representative of the deceased’s estate must transfer the unused inheritance tax threshold when the first individual dies. If a deceased individual leaves any assets to a spouse or civil partner with a permanent residence in the UK, inheritance tax is not usually owed on these assets even if their value exceeds the inheritance tax threshold.

Reducing Inheritance Tax with Life Insurance

Calculating the estimated value of your estate upon death will reveal whether inheritance tax may be owed. If this tax seems unavoidable, consider purchasing a life insurance policy to reduce the amount that may be owed. A whole of life policy that covers the estimated tax will pass more money along to beneficiaries.

Writing the policy into a trust prevents the payout from being included in the value of the estate. As an additional benefit, premiums paid for a whole of life policy reduce the value of your estate while you are alive.

Another way to reduce potential inheritance tax is to give away a portion of your estate while you are alive. If you die within seven years of doing this, the estate may be subject to inheritance tax but this tax rate declines during the seven-year period.

The potential liability can be covered by purchasing a decreasing term policy with a seven-year term. Beneficiaries can use the payout to pay the inheritance tax.

Further information on core topics raised in this article:

• Inheritance tax
• Civil Partnerships