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8 Tips for Funeral Planning

How to make smart decisions and arrangements

6-minute read

Leanne Potts,

Updated October 12, 2026

AARP

Updated October 12, 2026

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Key takeaways

Planning ahead can clarify your funeral preferences, but prepaid plans may carry risks if circumstances or providers change.
Funeral homes must provide prices by phone or in person, and consumers can request a general price list when planning begins.
Shopping around, buying services individually and documenting your wishes can help control costs and reduce uncertainty for loved ones.

None of us likes talking about death. Or funerals. But at some point, you’re going to shuffle off this mortal coil and need a funeral. You can make things easier on your family and get the send-off you want by planning your own.

To some, this feels like death-obsessed prepping. That’s probably why just 42 percent of Americans in their 70s have made arrangements for their own burial and funeral, according to a 2025 Pew Research study. You’re also likely to plan a funeral for a family member at some point, so you need to know how to make smart decisions. Here are some tips to help you.

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1. Learn what’s involved

To plan a funeral, you need to know what happens at one. There are three general components: preparing the corpse, holding the ceremony and handling the interment.

There is a range of options for each. Embalming or cremation? A full service at a funeral home, a graveside one or a DIY ceremony? Who will be there? A viewing of the deceased or not? Burial in the ground or in a mausoleum — or ashes scattered somewhere meaningful?

You can get a funeral planning checklist online to help you know what decisions you’ll need to make.

2. Plan in advance, but don’t pay in advance

Funeral homes sell plans that promise better rates if you buy a package now, years before you die. “We generally advise against it,” says April St. Onge, chief administrative officer for the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA), a nonprofit industry watchdog group. “We want everyone to preplan, but to be very cautious about prepaying,” she says.

The drawback to prepaying, St. Onge says, is that your situation can change between when you pay and when you die. Funeral homes go out of business, which leaves no one to honor the plan you bought. And there are often expenses not covered in the original contract.

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The one exception is if you’re facing a Medicaid drawdown. In that case, a prepaid funeral can be a smart move.

If you’re worried about there being enough money to pay for your funeral, set up a payable-on-death account. This is a bank account that lets a person designate a beneficiary to receive the money in the account when they die. The idea is that your beneficiary will use the money to pay for your funeral. A payable-on-death account works just like a regular bank account, so you can make deposits in it regularly while you’re alive.

3. Find out average costs

The FCA has links on its site to itemized lists of funeral costs in various states. Check it out so you have an idea of what you can expect to pay in your area for everything from a casket to that final hearse ride to the cemetery.

4. Shop around

The national median cost for a funeral with viewing and burial was $8,300, according to a 2023 analysis from NFDA. You need to treat it like any other large purchase. “I think the biggest [misconception] is that you just need to sign the contract and whatever the funeral director gives you, that’s what you’re stuck with,” says St. Onge. “If you end up with a $15,000 bill, that’s just the way it goes.”

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You may be able to save thousands of dollars just by going a few miles down the road. Call several funeral homes and get quotes. Some may be reluctant to reveal prices, but if they resist, insist. The Federal Trade Commission’s funeral rule requires them to quote prices over the phone or in person.

“Our number-one advice is to always ask for a general price list, the GPL,” says St. Onge. “According to the FTC funeral rule, a funeral home is required to give the GPL whenever the conversation of funeral planning begins.”

You can get pricing info online at the funeral comparison site Funeralocity.com, which offers itemized lists of goods and services from funeral homes across the nation.

5. Understand the package deal

Funeral homes sell packages of goods and services, but sometimes there’s more wrapped into them than you want. Sometimes they don’t have all the goods and services you need. For example, a gravestone and cemetery plot may not be included in a package.

6. Buy only what you want

You don’t have to buy a package. You can unbundle them and buy goods and services individually, and combine them into the funeral you want.

You don’t have to buy everything from the funeral home, either. You may save money by buying flowers, an urn or a grave site elsewhere. You can even buy a casket somewhere else. The median cost of a casket bought from a funeral home is $2,500. Amazon will deliver an $895 casket, including free shipping for Prime members. Really.

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7. Consider joining a memorial society

These nonprofit organizations offer price surveys of local funeral homes and guidance in planning a funeral. Many negotiate discounts at local funeral homes for members. They’re like a buyers club for funerals. One-time membership fees vary but generally cost less than $50. Check the FCA’s state-by-state directory of local affiliates to find one near you.

8. Talk it over and write it down

Start talking now. St. Onge says that while some people are open to discussing funeral plans early, others are terrified that having the conversation means something is going to happen to them immediately. Not true. When you involve others in your plans, you can tell them what sort of funeral you’d like to have and how much you want to spend. Be specific, but realize your loved ones may not be able to deliver on everything you want. And designate an agent of disposition — a person who you legally appoint to carry out your final wishes, including funeral, burial or cremation. “This takes care of a lot of the uncertainty when the time comes, knowing that you have one person who is going to be moving the plans forward.”

Editor’s note: This article, originally published July 7, 2020, has been updated with new information.

Nancy Kerr contributed reporting to the article.

The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

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