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Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Burying bodies vs burning bodies

While I spend a lot of time planning my finances for the future, I realize that there are a couple of lifetime events that happen only a handfull of times. Despite the low frequency, these events can be quite costly. For example, these events may include purchasing homes, cars, getting married, getting a serious injury/illness, and dying.

In economics, there is the phrase tinstaafl. There is no such thing as a free lunch. The term cost of living implies that there are several things required just to survive in today's world. But wouldn't you know it, it costs money to die as well. Not even death is free (usually).

This is something that everyone will eventually experience however most people don't think about it until it happens or just before it happens. You have a loved one, and your loved one passes away peacefully into the night. The body is still there. You can't just leave it there, it has to be taken care of properly. There are several ways to dispose of a dead body but most of them are illegal and just a really bad idea. For a sane and reasonable person, there are only 2 ways to take care of a dead body. Either bury it or creamate it.

The average funeral costs about $6,000 to $10,000. On the other hand, the average cost of a cremation of a body is $1,100. These are just average costs but it is possible to complete a burial or a cremation at a much cheaper price.

By looking at these two figures, it is clear to see that cremation is the much cheaper option. There are several reasons for this. When a body is buried, you need to have a plot of land to keep the body. Once that plot is filled, nothing else can be done with it. In theory, as more and more bodies get burried in finite land, the cost of buying a plot of land for burial will increase in the future. That is just the plot of land. A burial usually needs a coffin and a coffin can cost an averge of $2000. Another cost specific to the burial will be the tombstone which can cost a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

In a cremation, no casket, stone, or land is needed. You just need a jar to keep the ashes if you wish.

Regardless of having a body burried or burned, a lot of costs will be incurred when having the funeral ceremony. The ceremony can cost around $1000.


Taking all of this into consideration, it seems like cremation is the most logical solution. There are only two reasons I can think of where a person would want to be burried. The first reason is if he or she beleived in ressurection of the body. The second reason is if he or she beleived that a lot of money has to be spent on honoring a person's memory. The second reason sounds more like ego.

For me, it doesn't make very much sense to spend money on an expensive ceremony to honor the dead. The deceased won't be able to enjoy it. And it is completely possible to honor the dead without a traditional viewing of the body and burial.

The friends and family of the dead could all gather together in one household to pay their respects. They could share their memories together and say a short prayer for the one who passed away.

The last thing to consider when deciding between a burial and a cremation is who will bear the costs. If it is your own body you are concerend about, make sure you let your family know what you want and also it would be a good gesture to leave them some money in order to cover the costs.

Personally, I don't care what happens to my body when I'm dead, but if I did have children, I would feel terrible to leave them a $10,000 bill upon my death.

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