Free tool
Final Expense Calculator
So the people you love are not left with the bill.
Final expense cover to buy
$22,610
$26,610 in 10 years, less $4,000 saved.
- Total today
- $19,800
- In 10 yearsRising 3% a year
- $26,610
- Less savings
- −$4,000
- Cover to buy
- $22,610
NFDA medians leave out cemetery, marker, flowers and obituary costs. Local prices vary: ask two funeral homes for their price lists.
A family sitting with a funeral director should be choosing music, not worrying how to pay. This free InsureCard calculator adds up the funeral, cemetery, last medical bills, debts and estate costs, grows them to the year they may be needed, and shows the final expense cover that pays for it all.
Updated
The formula
Cost today = funeral + cemetery + medical bills + debts + estate costs
Cost then = Cost today × (1 + inflation)^years
Cover to buy = Cost then − savings
The funeral figure starts at the National Funeral Directors Association's 2023 national median for a funeral with viewing and burial, $8,300; a funeral with cremation was $6,280. Neither includes the cemetery, a monument or marker, flowers or an obituary.
Inflation grows today's costs to the year they may be needed. Savings are not grown, which keeps the estimate on the safe side.
A worked example: a burial in 10 years
A funeral with burial at $8,300, $3,000 for the cemetery, $2,000 of medical bills, $5,000 of debts and $1,500 of estate costs come to $19,800 today.
Rising 3% a year, that is $26,610 in 10 years. With $4,000 set aside, the final expense cover to buy is $22,610.
Funeral prices keep rising
The NFDA's 2023 study found the median funeral with viewing and burial rose from $7,848 to $8,300 in two years, and a funeral with cremation from $5,810 to $6,280.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has tracked funeral expenses in the Consumer Price Index since December 1986; from then to September 2017 they rose 227.1%, against 123.4% for all items. A fixed amount saved today buys less each year.
What final expense insurance is
It is usually a small whole life policy, often with simple health questions, sized to pay for a funeral and the last bills. The benefit goes to the person you name, who can pay the funeral home straight away.
Use the calculator's total as the face amount to ask about, then compare it with any life cover you already have.
Questions
How much does a funeral cost in the US?
The NFDA's 2023 national median was $8,300 for a funeral with viewing and burial and $6,280 for a funeral with cremation. Cemetery, marker and other costs come on top, and prices vary a lot by place.
How much final expense insurance do I need?
Add the funeral you want, cemetery costs, likely medical bills, debts and estate costs. Grow the total by inflation to when it might be needed, take off what you have saved, and the rest is the cover to consider.
Is cremation cheaper than burial?
Usually. In the NFDA's 2023 figures a funeral with cremation was about $2,000 less than one with burial, before cemetery costs. A direct cremation without a service costs less again.