That is true. GoFundMe is the #1 funeral crowdfunding website, raising $330 million annually for more than 125,000 memorial fundraisers.
And that stark fact came in handy for Cody Garrett, founder and president of Measure Twice Financial, a comprehensive financial planning firm in Houston that works with self-directed investors on the path to early retirement.
“My clients are people who want to be optional at work before age 60 and want to retire early, within the next five years,” Garrett said.
Many are savvy entrepreneurs or executives, but may balk at their need for term life insurance, which, in exchange for policy premiums, provides financial coverage for the duration of a policy to a policy beneficiary in the event unfortunate death of a policyholder.
“Before assuming life insurance is always a waste of money, consider how many funerals are funded with GoFundMe,” Garrett said in a tongue-in-cheek tweet this week.
The GoFundMe ad is a helpful way to put customers’ potential need for term life insurance into perspective, the planner said.
With the average cost of a funeral ranging from $7,600 to $12,000, funerals can quickly get expensive. Even a cremation will cost between $4,000 and $7,000, according to FuneralWise.com, a consumer site that includes a directory of funeral services.
Garrett, who does full life insurance analysis for customers who want it for the $6,400 fixed fee he charges, said he keeps his own term life insurance policy in place. until my surviving spouse and dependents are not financially burdened upon my death. ”
Nicholas VanGeest, a Grandville, Mich.-based financial adviser, said on Twitter that GoFundMe stats underscore the need for at least basic term life coverage.
“It’s extremely affordable protection,” VanGeest said. “The GoFundMe is designed as an added value, but it’s a pretty sad statistic about how few people adequately protect their families.”
Advisors’ attention to clients’ insurance needs may be timely, as the economy, the pandemic and the financial challenges of Americans are clearly weighing on sales of term life insurance and insurance in general, according to LIMRA.
“One in 10 consumers said they have reduced, canceled or postponed buying needed insurance or plan to do so if economic conditions persist,” said Elaine Tumicki, vice president of LIMRA and director of insurance product research, in a press release.
“It’s worrying, because the need for life insurance has never been greater. More than 100 million American adults live with a coverage gap,” Tumicki added.
LIMRA announced Dec. 7 that overall life insurance sales fell 12% in the third quarter and 10% year-to-date, with term life insurance sales falling for the fourth quarter. consecutive quarter.
In the third quarter, new term premiums fell 6% year-on-year and 5% year-to-date.
“The strong consumer demand for life insurance that we saw in 2021 has diminished,” said John Carroll, senior vice president of LIMRA and head of insurance and annuities.
“Since January 2022, consumer concerns about the pandemic, which played a role in record premium and policy sales growth in 2021, have waned as worries about the economy and inflation have been rising for several years. As a result, the surge in small sales of whole and term life policies seen in 2021 ended in 2022. Although new premium for these products remains above pre-pandemic levels,” said Carroll.