Instead of leaving it up to your loved ones to plan all the details of a memorial after you’ve passed away, consider pre-planning your own funeral or memorial. It can be your last act of love — and can be done any time, even years in advance.
By doing so, you can play a part in helping ease the emotional and financial burden of your loved ones — and bring them the closure they need. And your life can be honored in the way you want it to be.
Here are some things to consider.
Leave messages and information for loved ones
It’s comforting to know you can make a lasting impression even after you’re gone through your own words and through making sure you’ve organized important information for your loved ones.
Think about how you’d like to be remembered: As someone who values friendships and family above all else? As someone who took chances in life? Also, what words of wisdom do you want to share with loved ones? You can put these personal thoughts into a special journal and use them to draft a preamble to your will or obituary.
You can also create a “last wishes” document that states your general preferences about a funeral or memorial service, and names and contact information of lawyers, CPAs, financial professionals and others.
Be sure to let a trusted family member or friend know where you’re keeping this information. You might want to store it in the same secure place where you’re keeping your financial information, such as a legacy lock box or safe-deposit box.
Options for your remains
Burial, cremation or green funeral? There are several options to meet people’s growing needs, values and concern for the environment.
Cremation has surpassed traditional burials, with nearly 64% of people choosing cremation in 2025, according to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA). By 2045, it’s expected to reach more than 82%.1
And more consumers are interested in green funeral options with 61% of consumers saying they would be interested, according to NFDA’s 2025 Consumer Awareness and Preferences Report — up from 55.7% in 2021.1
Funeral and burial options
The national average cost of a traditional full-service burial is $8,595. This includes professional services fees for the funeral home, embalming and body preparation, a visitation or wake, a service at a funeral home or church, a procession to the grave site.2
Full-service cremation is less expensive, with an average cost of $6,253.2 This includes a visitation or wake prior to the funeral, a service at either church or funeral home chapel and basic cremation services, which include removal of deceased from the place of death, transfer to the crematory and cremation services.
An affordable burial, sometimes referred to as an immediate or direct burial, is the burial of a body without embalming, viewing or services. At $5,139, it includes basic services fee and transportation of the body from the place of death to the cemetery. The average cost of a basic casket is included.2
Cremation options
Direct cremation — meaning the body is not prepared for viewing at a funeral or memorial service — is significantly less expensive ($2,203) because there are no real estate or burial costs, and no preparation of the body is needed.2
Direct cremation includes removal of the deceased from the place of death, transfer to the crematory and cremation services.
The lower cost of cremation might be why more people are choosing it. Also, many families — who are not likely to live in one place their entire lives — like the option of taking their loved ones’ ashes with them, wherever in the world they may go. Or they might scatter them in a final resting place with special meaning to them and to you.
Green funeral options
Another consideration, especially if you are trying to reduce your impact on the environment, is a green burial. Green burial is a natural, environmentally conscious approach to burial by placing the body directly into the earth, without embalming and using only biodegradable materials.
There are nearly 500 green cemeteries in the United States and Canada.3 These are natural burial grounds and don’t allow the use of vaults, nonbiodegradable caskets or toxic embalming chemicals. Rather than traditional grave markers, rocks or natural markers are used or the burial locations are marked using GPS coordinates.
Take time to consider your options and how they fit with your values.
Payment considerations
You might think pre-paying your funeral costs will make things easier for your loved ones. But the Funeral Consumers Alliance suggests a better option: Plan ahead without paying ahead. You can do some funeral homes comparison shopping and then inform your loved ones of your choice.
However, if you’re set on paying for your funeral expenses ahead of time, it’s a good idea to put the money into a “payable on death” (POD) account.4 The POD ensures the funds you set aside for your funeral will be released immediately after your death to the beneficiary you name, without delay or probate. Keep in mind, the interest gained is subject to income tax. These accounts are FDIC-insured, and you can withdraw money any time.
Doing what you can now to prepare for your final act can give you and your loved one’s peace of mind today — and in the future.
