Is it time to tackle the elephant in the room?

25 April 2019

This article was featured in the May 2019 issue of the magazine. (ADVERTORIAL)

Catherine Lynas, corporate partnerships manager at Golden Charter, explains why funeral planning makes good sense for an ageing workforce, and provides a valuable addition to any benefits package

Funeral planning is the elephant in the room, even when the conversation is about financial security and wellbeing. Most people find talking about death and funerals a little bit awkward, to say the least – and the whole subject is often ignored. Yet funeral planning can be one of the most important ways people can protect their loved ones. Without a plan in place, there could be a big gap in their future financial security.

The truth is that it’s not really that uncomfortable! Working in human resources (HR) and reward and benefit, you’ll know that dealing with awkward things now can have significant benefits for your employees in the future. In reality, funeral planning is as easy to offer as an employee benefit as life insurance or critical illness cover – and it’s every bit as important.

That’s because a funeral plan is not a ‘just in case’ product, it’s a definitely ‘will need’ product. As all of us will need a funeral one day, so it’s one of the few products that everyone can benefit from.

Employers and HR professionals can play an important role in helping people address the elephant in the room. By giving employees flexible payment options which are not salary deductible, means they can maintain this benefit even if they move employers – a great step towards helping them prepare for later life.

The advantages of planning ahead – You wouldn’t think twice about encouraging employees to join your pension scheme, and a funeral plan benefit is another great way you can help them financially prepare for the future. Whilst no-one can predict the future, with funeral costs rising every year a funeral plan makes the same great economic sense, too.

To put the value of a funeral plan into context – and the potential saving – the average cost of a funeral (according to the SunLife Cost of Dying Report 2018) in 2004 was £1,920, but in 2018 it was £4,271 – a jump of 122.5%. If that rate continues, in another ten years the average cost of a funeral could be over £7,200.

Through a funeral plan benefit with Golden Charter, your employees can protect against these rising costs, by paying in advance for the funeral director’s services included in their plan at today’s prices. Once the plan is fully paid for, there will be nothing more to pay for these services. Guaranteed.

The hidden benefit of a funeral plan – Beyond the financial advantages, a funeral plan is also an emotional choice. Having a plan in place means one less thing for a bereaved family to worry about at a distressing time. So it can provide great peace of mind; not just for your employees, but for their loved ones too. It also means they can choose the funeral they want, with no uncertainty or stressful decisions for their family over their final wishes.
Why Golden Charter? – Over 500,000 people have already trusted Golden Charter with their funeral arrangements, making us one of the UK’s largest providers of pre-paid funeral plans (http://bit.ly/2D1ccej). Our network of over 3,000 independent funeral directors also provides unrivalled choice (http://bit.ly/2D7b0pT). As a trusted partner, we can work with you and your company to help your employees plan for the future.

With Golden Charter, it’s easy to add funeral planning into your employee benefits package – no matter how small, or how large, your business. We can provide a benefit scheme which suits you and your business regardless of what your existing platform may be.

Dedicated support for your business, and exclusive discounts for employees – We can also provide full support for any events you’d like to arrange where your employees can find out more about funeral planning.

And, to help make it as easy and affordable as possible for people to join, we also offer exclusive benefit scheme discounts which are not available when you buy a plan anywhere else.

Adding extra value to your benefits package – A well-rounded benefits package has great appeal, in terms of employee engagement, financial wellbeing, productivity, loyalty and recognition. It’s also a powerful tool for companies looking to attract, recruit and retain high quality people. Faced with an ageing workforce, lots of companies are looking at exactly what kind of benefits are now of most value to their employees. This is where funeral planning scores highly and adds real and tangible value to your existing mix of benefits.

Let’s get the conversation started

In any conversation about financial security, no subject should be off limits. Golden Charter can give you, and your business, all the support and tools you need to tackle the elephant in the room with your employees – and help them get the certainty and peace of mind that comes with planning ahead. So why not find out more? Call Catherine Lynas today, on 07809 334 868.