There are plenty of expensive milestones in life. We love thinking about graduation, weddings, first houses, moves across the country to exciting new places...even if these events put a hurting on the wallet. But there is another class of expenses which we don’t like to think that much about: final expenses. Death and dying can be uncomfortable subjects for anyone. But they’re part and parcel of the job that is human resources, and they should be built into the way you help your employees prepare for their financial futures.

For one thing, employees aren’t just going to be preparing for their own final expenses. Most of your employees will have parents or grandparents who are still living. In some cases, these elders will not be prepared for their own final expenses. Because “final expenses” can include anything pertaining to loss of health and growing need for personal care, these can become pricey and can occur across a lengthy timeframe. The last months of a loved one’s life can be very expensive indeed. It’s important for people with aging parents to know 1) how they plan to be financially involved (or not), 2) what specific events need to be prepared for, and 3) the amount of many of life’s final costs.

FinalExpenseInsurance.com is an example of one company who provides insurance for many of these final costs. When taken through a traditional funeral home, death is very expensive. The combined totals for caskets, flowers, embalming services, and countless other details, very often run over $10,000, even for modest services and agreements. It can be immensely helpful for bereaved relatives to know that funeral and burial arrangements are covered in advance. In some cases, grieving relatives can feel the pressure to “Break the bank” for a recently deceased loved on, in order to honor the lost relative. If these plans are made in advance, it takes away the pressure of having to make the decision in a state of distress, and this can be a great service you facilitate with your own staff.

Savings and insurance are both options for preparing for the death of a loved one. But in some cases, employees will want to prepare for their own expiration. In some cases this can be anticipated because the worker is very old. In other cases, he or she may have recently learned about a terminal illness from which they will die in months or years. In both cases, Human Resources can be in the helpful and important role of helping a perhaps frightened person navigate the waters of final expenses, even when they are someone far in the future. It can be challenging for a person like this to deeply consider these matters. After all, no one likes to think of their own deaths. But because preparation in this area can greatly relieve stress and financial burden from relatives, this may be something your employee is agreeable to, and which will put them in much better financial standing as time goes on.