This afternoon’s edition of Funeral Director Daily marks our 12th and final “Most Read Articles” of the month for 2025.

Funeral Director Daily wants to thank all of you who have contributed to our year — a year in which we saw email subscriptions and daily page view numbers continue to grow to new records for us.  Thanks!!!

We know that readers want a variety of information in this Death Care publication and today’s “Most Read” articles from November 15 to December 15 point that out. . . .There are Death Care related articles on aviation, documentaries, public companies, and acquisition news in this month’s Top 5. . . . .

In case you missed those articles, here they are again.

1. Cremation Air:  A new service to help funeral homes.
2. Another Death Care documentary series debuts tomorrow night. 
3. The public Death Care companies are in the news.
4. Does KFC have a template for Death Care?
5. Park Lawn purchases 8 funeral homes in greater Oklahoma City.

Happy Holidays!!!!

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

We’ve now moved a few days into the month of December.  It’s hard to believe that the plans you put into place for the 2025 Business Year are now coming into the stretch run.  Hopefully, your profit numbers are exceeding what you expected them to be with, not only your wise planning, but your ability to shift and adapt some parameters as events, such as tariffs and continued inflation, came into play during the year.

What happened in 2025 with unexpected events happens to some extent every year.  And, while we don’t know what those unexpected events might be, the more you know what is happening in the world around you, the better you should be to make mid-year manuevers in your planning.

To that end, today’s edition brings you two publications that contain information that we believe could influence your business plans for 2026.

1. Business Conditions and the Federal Reserve Board rate decision coming on December 10 —

The United States Federal Reserve Board will hold its last meeting of the calendar year next week and will have the responsibility of setting the rate for what is called the “Feds Fund Rate” which is the interest rate base that virtually all other consumer and business interest rates are set off of.  Where they set that rate at will make a difference in your adjustable rate bank loans, on what you might pay on credit card interest, and will make a difference on automobile loans and many mortgage loan types.  Clientele of Death Care establishments may have more or less to spend depending on how their individual loans are affected.

And, specific to funeral homes, the rate may make a difference on how much interest is credited to preneed funeral accounts going forward, depending on which insurance company holds your preneed policies.

This recent article from Yahoo Finance will give you some insights on what business conditions the Federal Reserve Board members will be looking at when setting that rate.  Here are a couple of quick statements from that article that may affect business going forward in 2026:

• “The combination of weaker consumption and a sagging job market could boost the odds of a December rate cut”.

• “As layoffs have ticked up, employers are implementing hiring freezes, replacing only people who leave, and adjusting workers’ hours, according to the report. A few firms noted that artificial intelligence replaced entry-level positions or made existing workers productive enough to curb new hiring.”

• “Rising health insurance premiums are also increasing labor costs for employers.”

• “Looking at inflation, tariffs increased costs for retailers and manufacturers. . . . There were multiple reports of profit margins being squeezed or firms facing financial strain from tariffs. Meanwhile, prices declined for certain materials, which firms chalked up to sluggish demand, deferred tariff implementation, or reduced tariff rates.”

• “Looking ahead, businesses expect cost increases to continue, but plans to raise prices in the near term were mixed.”

Related Article —  Consumer Price Index ends Fiscal Year 2025 at 3.01%.  Social Security announces 2.8% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).  United States Congress Joint Economic Committee

2. Thoughts on the Funeral Services Industry from Global Growth Insights–

I found a very interesting dossier on the worldwide funeral industry in a form that appears to be a teaser for purchasing a larger report on the industry from a worldwide perspective in a document entitled “Global Growth Insights“.  And while I cannot vouch for the company, most of the information that I read on the “teaser” seemed to appear correct.  You can access the document here.

Here’s some of the highlights I found from the Global Growth Insights material that co-incides with some of the trends I have noticed and written about with Funeral Director Daily:

Growth of the Industry — “Several structural and demographic factors underpin this growth. Rising global mortality rates, driven by an aging population, have been a major catalyst. By 2030, nearly one in six people worldwide will be aged 60 years or older, contributing significantly to the increasing demand for funeral and pre-need planning services. Additionally, the growing acceptance of cremation — accounting for over 57% of global funerals in 2025 — has encouraged companies to innovate in low-emission cremation technology and biodegradable urn production.”

Technology —  “Another notable transformation is the integration of technology. Over 40% of funeral homes globally now offer digital pre-arrangement, online obituaries, and live-streamed memorials. These services enhance convenience and accessibility, especially for families separated by geography.”

Sustainability —  “(S)ustainability has emerged as a defining trend. The increasing adoption of eco-friendly burials, green cemeteries, and bio-cremation services underscores the industry’s shift toward environmentally conscious practices. The “green funeral” segment alone is projected to grow at over 8% CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) through 2030, reflecting changing consumer values.”

Premium Memorialization —  “The high-end and specialty funeral homes and services segment caters to a premium clientele that seeks exclusivity, personalization, and luxury in memorial arrangements. This niche but rapidly expanding category combines emotional value, heritage preservation, and sophisticated service design. In 2025, the luxury funeral segment accounts for nearly 7.5% of the total global funeral services market, valued at approximately USD 5.9 billion, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% during 2025–2033 — outpacing the broader market’s average growth of 3.39%.  High-end providers focus on creating unique, culturally tailored, and experience-driven memorials. These include private mausoleums, personalized life celebration ceremonies, high-end floral artistry, premium casket materials, and digital heritage archives.”

Here is one other statement pertaining to the United States funeral industry that I found interesting, “The United States represents the largest and most mature segment of the global funeral homes and funeral services industry, accounting for approximately 36% of total global market share in 2025. The market continues to demonstrate steady growth, supported by an aging population, increasing pre-need funeral arrangements, and a rising preference for personalized, eco-friendly, and technology-enabled services.”

News from the world of Death Care:

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

I received a broadcasted mass e-mail last Thursday inviting me to tune into the newest podcast for our profession.  This one was titled “The Graveyard Shift” and was promoted by Passare.  It is probably good and informative, but I’ve also been invited to listen to a podcast that originates from Great Britain with the same title — “The Graveyard Shift”.

Two podcasts with the same title carries home my point that there are lots of opportunities to get news, opinions, and advice from the Death Care world in which this blog — “Funeral Director Daily” is one of them.  It’s a lot different from when I started in the business and the arrival of the monthly National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) official publication of their member magazine “The Director” was an eagerly awaited arrival.

Related — Here is a link to the Passare Graveyard Shift podcast

John Naisbitt in his early 1980’s best-selling book Megatrends predicted that the world would soon pass into what he called the “Information Age”.  His thesis, especially for the United States was that we had been through the Agricultural Age, the Industrial Age, and the invention of the telephone entered us into the technology age of which we were still in during the 1980’s.  His prediction, and I think it has came true, was that we would soon enter the “Information Age”.

His belief was that “information would become very valuable”, that we would pay for it like never before, and that our technology would make it widespread and easily accessible. . . . Not like having to go to a library or somewhere similar as was the case for a couple of centuries prior.

I think we have reached that point. . . and we have reached it in the funeral and cemetery business.  It does create a world where “caveat emptor” is necessary however.  “Caveat emptor” is Latin for “Let the Buyer beware”.  I also believe that in a world where anybody can distribute information that is a pretty important thought.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

No longer do we simply have NFDA proof-reading articles and fact-checking those articles, as they did in the decades-old “The Director” magazine before they are distributed to America’s funeral businesses.  Today, we have scores of information sources distributing their thoughts to us all in a world where there is more information distributed than ever before and nothing is fact-checked.

I’m old enough to remember when we received, at least what we believed was “fact-checked” news at 6 pm every evening on television and in the newspaper every morning.  Surveys tell us that in the United States, very few people under the age of 50 get their news in that fashion at this point in time. . . . . and, how they get their news is in more of an opinion setting — such as podcasts or blogs.

You don’t have to look any further than the emphasis that has been put on the latest presidential contest and how campaign news was sought. . . It was almost all social media — TikTok, Instagram, podcasts, and the like.  And now, we have even more of those political types starting podcasts to inform people because they have seen them successfully work and move markets.  Or, in the political world — votes.

I think Death Care has two branches of news, opinions, and marketing to formulate.  One branch is easily seen in the vendor and practitioner side of the business — that is podcasts and publications that serve the practitioner with knowledge and in some capacities “plug” the vendor.  Quite frankly, Funeral Director Daily fits into that category as a blog publication.  There’s lots of others in this lane — both in podcasts and in blogs or journals.  It’s up to the practitioner to recognize if the authors of such podcasts and/or publications have the knowledge, reputation, worthwhile advice, and value to be worthy of their time in listenening or reading.

The other branch that I see is that of “Marketing’ by Death Care consumer providers.  I think it is a real new world out there on how your future consumer clientele will choose your funeral home/cemetery and how once they choose you will pick the services that you offer.  Your future clients are now also part of Naisbitt’s “Information Age” and are looking to you for the information about Death Care that they need to make decisions.

And, just as funeral providers have to filter their “caveat emptor” situation, so do your potential clients.  How you tell them what you do and how believeable that you can be in that situation will make a difference in your business in the future.  It’s an area where “Reputation” will mean everything going forward to help with this belief.

It’s my opinion that, just like incumbent politicians with name recognition, legacy family owned funeral homes have a great reputational advantage  —  if you wonder about the “new consumer” and if they will choose your firm, now is probably the time to find the right marketing partner for you to connect via social media and other avenues with these people.

Because every day the start-up operations or the acquisition-company owned firms in your community are trying to use their expertise to pry these clients away from you.  Again, in my opinion, doing nothing won’t help your cause.

Related — It’s probably pretty likely that Welton Hong and his team at Ring Ring Marketing can help your funeral home be heard “Loud and Clear” in today’s Information Age.

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

The registration for an upcoming WilbertEDU educational program offering continuing education credits explains the one-hour seminar as such, “Barbara Kemmis and Brie Bingham share the latest CANA consumer research revealing how cremation is becoming the new tradition and discuss what the profession currently offers to meet this growing demand.”

In addition, according to the registration, participants will hear “Barbara and Brie also cover effective strategies for retaining clients and maintaining a competitive edge in this rapidly changing market.”

In this one-hour free seminar provided by Wilbert you will hear from two of the most knowledgeable people in cremation circles.  Kemmis is Executive Director of the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) and Bingham is a CANA certified cremation operator and coordinates the CANA blog that helps keep crematory operators up to date on knowledge of the profession.

This seminar will be held on Thursday, October 31, at 1:00 pm Central time.  To learn more and register to participate and receive continuing education credits please click here.

Click here to learn about more upcoming WilbertEDU sessions.

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

I’ve talked about the book, Megatrends, by John Naisbitt before.  It was published in 1982 and sold 14 million copies and after reading it about the time it was written, its “Social Forecasting”, and my belief in that concept, played a major role in building my funeral business and other businesses I was involved in.

I became a huge believer in Naisbitt’s trends and bought hook, line, and sinker that I should incorporate them into how I made decisions to move my business forward.  For instance, one of those trends was moving from “Centralized” leadership to “Decentralized” leadership or another was moving from “Hierarchies” (a pyramid structure with few at the top) to “Networking” (every employee gets a say).

Here is a summary of Naisbitt’s “Megatrends” that will move society.  Remember, these were written in 1982.

This might sound strange today, but in 1982  centralizing the leadership and then giving commands to employees was the way business was done. . . .and generally the owners of companies joined the business clubs like Kiwanis and Rotary with the business paying their dues and membership fees and the employees generally were not involved in those business clubs.

Reading Megatrends gave me two initiatives that greatly brought my business positive momentum. . . First of all, I changed from a “Centralized and Hierarchal” system of making arrangements whereby the owner made the arrangements and was on the front line with the families and then ordered employee funeral directors on how to handle the funeral to a “Decentralized and Networking” process whereby all funeral directors made arrangements and dealt with families. . . Each funeral director made their own decisions, without having to ask the owner, on how the funeral service would go.

Secondly, I made available a pool of money for all employees, not just the owner, to join business or social clubs at the company’s expense within the dicatates of Internal Revenue rules.  And, followed up by giving employees time off from the facility to attend the functions that their club(s) was/(were) busy with.

Those decisions sound like a simple smart business modus operandi today, but it was not how things happened in the early 1980’s.  Especially, in small family operated businesses. . . It was generally the owner out front taking credit and the funeral director employees in the back room doing the work.  It’s just the way it was. . . . When I think of that time I cannot help but think of the cartoon classic “The Jetson’s” and the relationship between Mr. Spacely, owner of “Spacely Sprockets” and his employee George Jetson. . . or of the relationship on the 1960’s “sitcom” Bewitched between the boss Mr. Larry Tate and his employee Darin Stevens.

That gets me to another of Naisbitt’s Megatrends that is still taking place today.  He had the incredible insight to realize that our society would move at some point in time to an “Information Society” – after our country had passed through an agriculture society, an industrial society, and a technolgical society.  Here’s what Naisbitt said back in 1982 about “Information”:

“Information is an economic entity because it costs something to
produce, and because someone is willing to pay for it. Value is
whatever people are willing to pay. If an economy built around
information seems less real than one built around steel &
automobiles, it doesn’t matter so long as people are willing to pay
for information.

In the 1930s, society became organized around the automobile.
All that the automobile contributed was transportation. Today’s
society is becoming organized around the computer, which has
an orientation to expand your brain power through growth,
education and learning. The computer age will deal with
conceptual space, connected by electrons as opposed to
physical space connected by the motorcar.”

In my opinion we are continuing to live in that “Information” society today. . . .and relying on it to a greater and greater extend each day.  As we continue to move forward consumers are showing a greater reliance each day on “Information” when they make their consumer purchases.

For instance, my wife and I spend three months each winter in South Florida.  We still don’t know the area that well, but when we want to do something like go to a movie theatre, we get all the “information” that we can get through “conceptual space” on our computer or mobile phone without moving through “physical” space.  Here’s what we do:

1. Look on a map to see where theatres are located in relation to where we are at.
2. Once we locate theatres we look to see what movies are playing there.
3. Once we find the movie that we like, we look for specific times that fit our schedule.
4. Once we are satisfied, we look for seats, pricing, and then purchase our ticket.

Now, we are ready to go.  However, think if the movie theatre you owned didn’t have a website or did not put the movies and times that they were offered on that website your theatre, regardless how wonderful it is, would not be chosen.  I can guarantee you that we would have skipped right over your theatre because we are no longer comfortable or see value in going through the efforts to call or drive by your theatre when we can make other choices from the comfort of our home chair.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

It’s my opinion that that is exactly what is happening and will continue to happen at a higher occurence rate to death care providers that do not offer enough “information” on their website. . . and that includes pricing.  While I don’t agree that the federal government should mandate website pricing as a consumer protection, I do believe it is in a funeral home’s best interest to put pricing on their website on a voluntary basis.

I’ve gotten stronger with my belief on this subject and every time I write something like this I will get a couple of emails from funeral directors who tell me they like having potential clients call them so they can explain what they do, how it benefits the client family, and how they charge for it.  They tell me that “many times the consumer will tell me that even though those prices are a little higher than what I saw online, I like the personal touch and will be coming to your funeral home because of that.”

I don’t doubt that that happens because it happened at my funeral home exactly the same way. . . . What I’m concerned about today as we get more and more into the “Information” society is that for every call you get like that, you probably have a dozen potential clients who, like me with my movie example, have passed you by because they did not see the “information” that they wanted on your website and were not willing to call or drive over because it was so simple to find their answers on competitor’s websites.

Here’s an article from Forbes that I found while doing this article entitled, “What John Naisbitt taught me about the Future“.  I found it interesting and also found this Naisbitt quote in it which I think explains why you should look at consumer trends, like online pricing, for your funeral home business modus operandi:

“Trends, like horses, are easier to ride in the direction they are going.”

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

It seems like only yesterday that that President Trump and the United States Congress and Senate passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that business advisor Clifton Larson Allen (CLA) states “brought sweeping tax changes to businesses and individuals”.  However, it was in 2018 and to show how fast time moves, we will soon be in the period that some of the provisions of that legislation “sunset” or “expire”.

The “Sunset” provisions take effect on January 1, 2026, so we are less than two years from that period. Because the sunset is part of law, it would take an act of Congress to prevent it. . . .and where we are in today’s world with a divided Congress, that doesn’t look too promising.

According to CLA here’s some of what will be affected by the Sunset provisions:

• Individual Income Tax rates
• The Qualified Business Income Deduction
• The State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT)
• Mortgage interest deductions
• Charitable contribution deductions
• Estate and Gift Taxes

To learn more about this situation you can read a paper from CLA on the expiring changes here.

For more information on what’s else is happening on the regulatory side of business you can check with CLA here.

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