Like trimming the grocery budget or turning off extra lights in the house, consumers may look for ways to lower funeral costs, but the fact is, we all die eventually, and someone has to deal with the remains. Some funeral industry professionals are responding to the economic downturn by offering a wider range of goods and services to help people arrange their final exit in the style of their choosing.

One Funeral Director’s Response
Peter Moloney, whose family owns six funeral homes on Long Island, has made it his mission to help customers arrange unique funerals on behalf of themselves or their loved ones. From a hearse towed by a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to an ice-cream vendor in a Good Humor truck greeting mourners after a funeral, Moloney’s specialized services allow people to be remembered in ways as unique as they are. According to Moloney, 44, a fourth-generation funeral director: “You have to give people something special. If you’re not, someone else will be. That means adjusting to what people want today.”

Even in Recession, Many Opt to Go in Style
As funerals trend more toward cremation and home funerals and away from elaborate caskets with all the trimmings, consumers are driving the recession home to the funeral industry. One of the ways innovative funeral directors like Moloney are responding is by catering to individual wants and needs. For example, services for environmentally and cost-conscious families may include renting coffins and minimizing the use of chemicals, while custom amenities such as 14-karat gold mementos and personalized coffins and cremation urns appeal to people who prefer to go in style.

Growing Market
One thing funeral directors and others in the funeral industry can count on, even in economic hard times, is an endless stream of clients. And while consumer funeral spending may be on the decline, the rising number of deaths each year ensures a certain level of growth in funeral goods and services. (The annual death rate will continue to grow at about 1 percent per year through the early 2020s, corresponding to the aging of the baby boomers.)

In other words, while the recession is forcing funeral industry professionals to reconsider the goods and services they will offer and how they will deliver them, those who are prepared to adapt and evolve will continue to prosper.

Now when you go on vacation, the last thing you expect is to come home in a casket. You pack everything you need for your trip, and you check off the items on your list as you place them in your suitcase. Toothpaste – check. Sandals – check. Sunscreen – check. Funeral pre-arrangements and legal paperwork naming your traveling companion as your personal representative in the event you are unable to speak for yourself? Probably not on your list.

If trends tell the story, it may be time to rethink that strategy. While traveling isn’t a death risk in and of itself, the fact is that none of us know when we’ll die. And dying unprepared while on vacation is not only tragic; it’s also a terrible imposition on your companion, who will have to complete tons of paperwork, cover expenses and make tough decisions at a time when they are shocked and grieving.

To ensure you’re remembered fondly long after you’re gone, consider taking steps now to save your loved ones from a logistical nightmare in the event of your untimely death away from home:

• Check with your insurance agent. If your current insurance won’t cover transportation costs to bring your body home, ask about available options.
• If you’re traveling alone, make sure someone back home knows your itinerary, and make sure that person (or your traveling companion, if you have one), has all the paperwork he or she will need to claim your body.
• Visit your local funeral director to complete a pre-need agreement before you embark on your journey. Whether you die on vacation or live for years, your loved ones will be grateful that a call to the funeral director is all it takes carry out your final wishes.