Any time is a good time to plan your funeral except at the time of the funeral. Why? Because there are definite advantages for planning ahead for any service. Planning your own funeral may not be easy, but deciding your funeral arrangements in advance can give peace of mind to your family when the time comes. Pre-planning your funeral can help your loved ones focus on celebrating your life and honoring your legacy the way you wanted.

By deciding on a funeral home, burial or cremation and, perhaps, pre-paying a portion of the costs, you can help family members understand your wishes and make less burdened from the financial implications.

Five steps that will help you in planning funeral arrangements:

• Choose the best funeral home and memorial site.

It is important to note that choosing the right funeral home is very important as you design your funeral with regards to saving money. Some funeral homes can charge significantly higher rates than other funeral homes, so it is better to take some time to research different funeral homes before ultimately choosing one. Ask suggestions from your friends and relatives who have attended funerals.

• Decide on a type of funeral.

It enables you to make choices like whether you’ll be buried or cremated; whether you’d prefer a formal, religious funeral or a simple, potluck memorial service; what clothing and jewelry you’ll be buried in; and what music will be played at your funeral service.

Difference between burial and cremation:

With a burial, your body is interred in the ground either with or without embalming. With cremation, your body is cremated to ash and the remains are placed in a container of your choice.

• Pay for your prearranged funeral.

Funeral homes divided the pre-pay system in two ways: Guaranteed plans and Non-guaranteed plans

In a guaranteed plan, the funeral home agrees to provide the goods and services you have selected for the amount in the prepaid funeral account at the time of death, regardless of the retail value of those goods and services prevalent at the time of death.

In non-guaranteed plans, there is no commitment made by the funeral home to accept the amount available in your prepaid funeral account at the time of death as full payment for the goods and services you selected as part of your prepaid agreement.

At the time of death, the retail value of the goods and services selected will be calculated. If the value of your account is less than that of the goods and services selected, your family has the flexibility to either pay the difference and follow through with your original arrangements or to alter the arrangements according to the need of the time.

And also choose funeral insurance and funeral trusts which are sound financial planning options you can consider ahead of time.

• Shop around.

Though your family might have one funeral home and one burial place they traditionally use, you might want to compare products and prices of several funeral homes. All funeral homes are required to provide detailed written price information to their clients.

Pre-need funeral plans can be made at any time and offer many advantages. Funeral homes, cemeteries and other funeral service companies can help you preplan a funeral for yourself, your spouse, or a parent. Also, detailed guides, funeral planning, and testimonials are now readily available at websites such as Faithfuneralservice.net to help you create a funeral plan.