It’s the end of summer in Minnesota and lots of our friends get ready to embark on the journey to warmer climates soon.  So, it is a good time to say good-bye to our summer Minnesotans and wish them well until we see them again next Spring. Angie and I did that last week and went out to a micro-brewery for pizza and drinks with some neighbor couples.

When you get to be our ages the talk sometimes takes on the realities of enrolling in Social Security and Medicare.  As our conversation turned that way I was surprised to hear that every couple we were with had attended a recent seminar, generally put on by an insurance agency or financial planner, to learn more about their options for those programs.

When I asked, somewhat tongue in cheek, if they had been attending the preneed funeral seminars too, they all said that they haven’t been invited yet.  That was surprising to me because they were in or over the age brackets  that I generally started sending invitations to when I operated our funeral home — 55 years and older.

And then I received my weekly recap of articles from Great Britain’s Funeral Service Times where the lead article had this headline, “Prepaid funeral plan sales surpass 100,000 in record H1 (Half-year) of 2025”.  The article featured statistics furnished by the National Association of Funeral Plan Providers (NAFPP).

Turns out that in Great Britain and Wales, which had a combined 568,613 deaths in 2024, a total of 111,887 funeral plans were sold in the first half of 2025.  The article states that is a 13.7% increase over the same period of 2024 and it marked the first time a half-year total was over the 100,000 mark.

Just to state a numerical situation, if the country totaled the same amount of preneed plans sold in the 2nd half of 2025 preneed plans would total about 39% of the number of deaths recorded the previous year (568,613 deaths in 2024).

It should also be noted that during the first-half of 2025, existing preneed plans funded over 62,000 funeral services in the UK — about 18.3% of all services during that time period according to the NAFPP.

According to the article “The figures reflect the sector’s continued expansion following full regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). During the period, 787 existing plans were transferred from non-regulated entities to NAFPP member firms. These customers are now covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and Financial Ombudsman Service.”  (The Financial Conduct Authority started regulating fuenral plans in Great Britain in July 2022)

Barry Floyd, Chairman of the NAFPP had these comments about the increased preneed planning in Great Britain, “. . With consumer confidence in the product buoyed by the reassurance provided by our regulator, more people than ever are aware of the advantages. The first half of 2025 has set a new benchmark for the prepaid funeral planning sector, with record new plan sales, strong performance across all indicators, and customer preferences evolving toward flexible solutions.”

The NAFPP also reported an increase in the use of its plan tracing service, with around 7,000 enquiries expected this year. The service is used by families who cannot locate funeral paperwork following a relative’s death.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  Two things come to mind when I think about our dinner discussion and this report out of Great Britain.  First of all, people really do want to know what their options are — they may not be ready to purchase as indicated that our friends had not yet applied for Social Security and/or purchased Medicare supplement coverage.  However, they are all going to the seminars to learn about their options.

Secondly, when it comes to preneed funeral coverage people are willing to step up and purchase the product when they have the confidence that their investment will be there for them in the future.  When it was an unregulated product in Great Britain sales lagged the pace where they are today.

Another thought that I had from our discussion was that our friends had never really thought through the possibility of their death care choices.  I’m guessing that they all have life insurance and other financial issues under control but they all told me that they would be “cremated and have no idea what would be done with their ashes”.

I mentioned that the options have become many and varied  — and I pointed out products such as Better Place Forests and Parting Stone.  Interestingly enough, those mentions caught their attention and made them think of possible alternatives to simply scattering ashes.  From that short discussion I realized that the Death Care profession does not seem to be keeping up with giving alternatives to families that choose cremation.  And, if the potential clients don’t know about the alternatives they will not be purchasing them.

I think whether we realize it or not, Death Care is in a new world today. With so much coming at once and so much happening in the streaming world of funerals, in the digital media of advertising, in the online revenue options, in the venue options, in disposition options, in online preneed options, and on and on for funeral homes and cremation providers, that sometimes we have not taken the appropriate measures to let our future clientele know what we can offer.

I further think it is imperative that funeral and cremation providers be able to get in front of the future consumers much like the Medicare supplement providers are doing.  It’s my opinion that a lack of effort in hosting groups at your funeral home and letting them know of all the options, including preneed, will result in a lower revenue per case than could be received with a well-informed consumer. . . . if the uninformed consumer chooses your firm at all or simply goes with a Direct Cremation with No Services provider because they don’t know of the options available at your firm.

If you are interested in creating seminars that will give your area consumers the knowledge that they need to make informed funeral, cremation, and preneed purchases give Patrick Zalusky and Laker Planning Services a call.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

If you have been anywhere near a television, radio, smart phone, newspaper, or other news media you know that President Trump’s signature piece of legislation, the “Big, Beautiful Bill” was passed and signed into law over the extended 4th of July weekend.

I’ve always liked to stay up-to-date on current events and learn as much as I can from what is happening in the greater world around me that might affect me, or my business, in the future.  However, I’m not going to read a boring 940-page government-ese edition of this bill.  I’m counting on what I can get from media to help me understand the bill and, as I always do, try to understand the ramifications on Death Care.

First of all, as to your business, for the most part this new bill codifies for a greater length of time the 2017 Trump business changes.  In that regard there appear to be no changes or surprises in this bill for businesses.  Here’s what one source said of that, “(the bill will) increase the small business deduction, and expand expensing provisions. These changes are expected to benefit manufacturers, small businesses, and those involved in international trade.”

One thing that I noticed about the bill is that there is a provision for Social Security recipients.   The first drafts of the bill had a provision in it that would exempt federal taxes on Social Security benefits.  It is my understanding that when the bill went through the Senate “reconciliation” process that provision was taken out of the bill because “changes to Social Security are generally prohibited in reconciliation legislation”. 

However, in its place, what is now being called the “Senior Bonus” was provided for during the years of 2025 through 2028 — 4 tax years.   The “Senior Bonus” is described as such, “a $6,000 deduction (that) would be available to individuals over the age of 65 with up to $75,000 in modified adjusted gross income, and $150,000 if married and filing jointly. It phases out for taxpayers who are above those thresholds.” 

In one overview of this bill that I read it mentioned that the “Senior Bonus” would be available to 88% of current Social Security recipients who fall under those income guidelines.

Related — “What Trump’s “on big beautiful” tax and spending bill means for our money”.  CNBC

Related —  “5 under-the radar pieces of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” that may impact your life.”  Axios

 

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  So, I would have to do a little more investigating than I have done so far, but if potential future clients of my funeral home are receiving an extra savings of up to $6,000 (depending on their tax situation) for the next four years, I would look for a way to capitalize on that and help them realize that it might be a smart decision to turn that savings into paying for their eventual funeral — with a preneed funeral plan through their local funeral home.

You can be assured that travel companies, auto dealers, and others will be gearing up some kind of promotional avenue to capture what appears to be a greater positive cash-flow for older Americans.

One way to do so for funeral homes might be, after you know the final ramifications of this legislation, is to work with your local media and putting out information on how the bill might affect citizen’s lives — especially this “Senior Bonus”.  Letting consumers know that legislation may be able to change their lives for the better might also give you a leg-up on the competition.

It seems to me that most funeral homes out there today are concentrating their marketing dollars on getting to be the #1 listed funeral home on SEO searches.  It brings to mind the below podcast where the discussion is about an “authenticity” approach to marketing. . . . . which might include letting consumers know of possibilities.

Related — The latest “Two Guys and a Question” podcast brings some marketing experts on to it and the “tease” for the podcast states, “With decades of combined experience and a deep understanding of consumer behavior, they’re challenging funeral directors to move beyond being “number one in search results” and toward becoming genuine community resources—where relationships, not algorithms, drive growth.”

In my opinion, that’s an appropriate message for preneed and consumer information which may help deepen your relationship with potential preneed clientele.

Connect with the “Two Guys and a Question” podcast here.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

The other day I came across this article from Today’s Will & Probate publication of Great Britain.  The title of the article is “Regulation profoundly changing the dynamics of the funeral plan market“.

I think it portends continuing interest and expansion in funeral home preneed sales.  I also believe that some of the indications of the British market are noticeable in the United States market as well.  One of the items of interest to me in the article was that with British preneed market coming under more regulation on the funeral side, it appears that British clientele is now moving more to a “defined” death care services product for insurance than what they term an “Over 50’s Plan” of basic insurance that could cover funeral expenses.

The British article makes this comment, “Clients looking to secure their end-of-life arrangements may increasingly turn to funeral plans (including direct cremation) as a regulated, transparent, and practical solution. Advisers and will writers would do well to ensure clients understand the difference between a funeral plan (and the increasing variety of them) and a life insurance policy, particularly where funeral cost certainty, and ensuring funeral wishes are known, is a priority.” (Emphasis by Funeral Director Daily)

The point of that quote, in my opinion, is that preneed clientele is more and more looking for funeral and/or cremation cost certainty and are moving into those types of plans instead of simply purchasing an insurance plan, known in Great Britain as an “Over 50’s Plan” or in North America as a “Final Expense” plan which does not guarantee that funeral home payment certainty but allows for death benefits to be paid to a person or estate for distribution of final expenses, which would include funeral/cremation/cemetery costs.

It’s very difficult to get accurate numbers of the North American preneed market because most of the numbers include what many of us would refer to as “Final Expense” insurance and not necessarily “Preneed” insurance as sold by death care providers to explicity pay for the costs associated with funeral/cremation/cemetery expenses.

In either case it appears that the numbers are growing and if, like in Great Britain, clients increasingly want “price certainty” about funeral/cremation/cemetery expenses, then I would suggest that a market share shift between “Final Expense” and “Preneed” would favor a higher market share going to the Preneed side of the ledger as appears to be happening in Great Britain according to this graphic from the Today’s Wills & Probate article.

This October 2024 press release from the Life Insurance Council indicates that Preneed insurance grew by 8% year over year.

According to one report that I read, a potential increase in numbers of Preneed policies written is being driven by the following factors:

• Inflation Protection: A major driver for preneed insurance is the desire to mitigate rising funeral costs.
• Peace of Mind: Preneed planning provides peace of mind for both individuals and their families by pre-arranging and funding funeral arrangements.
• Demographic Shifts: An aging population and increasing awareness of end-of-life planning contribute to market growth.
• Multi-Pay Growth: The popularity of multi-pay options makes preneed insurance more accessible to a wider range of consumers. 

Funeral Director Daily take:  Prior to writing this article I had a couple of discussions with Preneed people.  In one discussion with a preneed sales counselor I learned that their market population had not really grown in the last decade but that they were doing double the sales volume as a result of not only more aggessive sales tactics but a growing consumer interest in the product.

Another friend I talked to who oversees a large multi-state distribution area of preneed told me, that in spite of growing cremation popularity,  the average face value of the policies written by his group continues to grow.  My take on that is that is one of the best ways of challenging the lowering of the “Average Revenue per Case” dilemma that some funeral homes are worrying about.

In both of these visits, I think it shows a positive trend for preneed and how it can help a funeral home grow market share and average revenue per call.  If you are not aggressively marketing preneed. . . . you should be.

Finally, couple those thoughts with what seems to be an improving consumer attitude for pre-death choices and cost certainty and include the expected increase in number of Americans over the age of 65 moving into the future and I look at the future of Preneed as very good.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

Prelude’s website makes this statement “We created the world’s best in-person selling software that anyone in your funeral home can use to close in just one meeting”.

One year ago on March 8, 2024, Funeral Director Daily published our first article on the company.  That article, that you can read here, was titled, “Will Prelude be the product?”

I didn’t know much about the company or the product at that time, but in the time since I see that they are still moving forward.  The company landed an investment from Cortado Ventures of Oklahoma City and now, according to this press release, has landed another investor in Hurricane Ventures out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. . . . It should be noted that Prelude is an Oklahoma-based company.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

In the last year I’ve also got to take a “test-ride” of their product acting as a consumer with their digital platform.  Quite frankly, I found the experience, which must use artificial intelligence (AI), to be pretty simple and easily understandable in guiding me through an arrangement conference to pricing and preneed financing.

I was at the point that I said to myself, “This is something the common consumer could use”.

Like a lot of products in the developing stages I’m sure that there will be enhancements moving forward, but the experience that I had with my Prelude test-drive has convinced me that computer arrangements and pre-arrangements will be the choice for a certain percentage of consumers in Death Care’s future.

To learn more about Prelude you can access their website here.

To learn more about Hurricane Ventures you can access their website here.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

The last time we mentioned the upstart preneed company Prelude in Funeral Director Daily was this article back in March 2024 when we first heard of them.  We mentioned that we didn’t know much about them but from their LinkedIn references and website it appeared that they were in the business of helping individual funeral homes sell preneed directly to the consumer public.

Earlier this week we received this press release from Cortado Ventures of Oklahoma City making known the fact that Cortado Ventures has invested in Prelude.  Here’s what that press release says in the first paragraph:

“Cortado Ventures has invested in the end-to-end digital preneed funeral planning company Prelude, which helps families, as well as funeral homes, craft an individual’s legacy by making it easier to plan and pre-pay for their own funeral. Offering a human-focused alternative to the highly transactional options in the funeral planning industry, Prelude harnesses a member-based insurance collective with AI-enabled B2B software aimed at transforming the funeral pre-planning process.”

Cortado Ventures’ Managing Partner Nathaniel Harding is quoted in the press release with this statement, “Prelude’s innovative solutions to funeral planning provides not only logistical ease but also emotional comfort and security before one of life’s most sensitive times.  End-of-life planning is never easy, but Cortado is excited to invest in a company that will serve Oklahomans, in life and after, and provide families some certainty in the face of life’s greatest uncertainty.”

Related Article — “Why we Invested:  Prelude”   —  Dated September 16, 2024, from the Cortado Ventures website.

Funeral Director Daily:  We still don’t know exactly how Prelude will work in integration with a funeral home, but their website has pages of information and one of them says this that is attributed to Prelude Co-Founder and CEO Kris Yee, “At Prelude we partner with independent funeral homes to revolutionize the preneed process.  . . .With Prelude you stay in control, increase profitability, and see significant growth in your preneed sales. . . . “

Here is the website for Prelude

Here is the website for Cortado Ventures

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”