Health insurance

"Cheryl P." wrote in message
...
Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:
How many of you take this out for your cats?

Not us.

The local amateur rugby club used to have a big sign on the wall
of their clubhouse saying they were supported by a pet insurance
firm. I figured that if they had that much money to give away,
they had to be a ripoff.

It's not just health insurance. Yesterday I got a mailing from my bank
announcing that the average funeral in Canada costs $10,000 and the death
benefit from Canada Pension is only - I forget, $2,000? - and they could
sell me funeral insurance so my next of kin won't have worries of problems
if the 'unexpected' happens.

But after a couple family deaths a while back, I visited a local funeral
home, placed my order (for a lot less than $10,000!!), and started putting
money aside to pay for it.

I wonder how many people buy $10,000 worth of insurance for an 'average'
funeral because the letter said they should?

Then again, it is a big expense - one of my office-mates is helping her
brother's family pay off his funeral right now.

I've got that sorted too. I did that back in 05 when I had the cancer and
was told by the medics I was not long for this world. I even arranged a
grave plot (my aunt gave me her space in with my mum and grandparents - room
for 4 in there) and also had the headstone taken up and existing
inscriptions removed and reinstated in a smaller font, if that's the word,
so there's room for mine. It was then replaced.
My much younger brothers now have nothing much to do if I pop off - except
get rid of my clutter. They know there are instructions in a wooden box in
my bedroom about where some of this should go, like all my whippet geneology
back 10 generations which I researched, but most of what I have would be of
no importance to them and they are free to bin it.
I have not forgiven either of them for leaving a framed photo of me in my
mother's house on the sofa when we were clearing it out after her death, to
be destroyed by the council.
Neither of them wanted it but I know they haven't many photos of me.
Well - they think perhaps they will inherit my house and land. Not so now,
they have been no support to me at all, and one of my brothers lives only a
mile away. I last saw him on Christmas Day and he never bothers to phone to
see if I am actually still alive, let alone invite me to join in an outing.
Ah, well. I taught him to read before he went to school to give him a good
start in life and it did. I was 15.
Now it's his turn and he is not stepping up to the table.
Tweed

Cheryl P. wrote:
Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:
How many of you take this out for your cats?

Not us.

The local amateur rugby club used to have a big sign on the wall
of their clubhouse saying they were supported by a pet insurance
firm. I figured that if they had that much money to give away,
they had to be a ripoff.

It's not just health insurance. Yesterday I got a mailing from my bank
announcing that the average funeral in Canada costs $10,000 and the
death benefit from Canada Pension is only - I forget, $2,000? - and they
could sell me funeral insurance so my next of kin won't have worries of
problems if the 'unexpected' happens.

But after a couple family deaths a while back, I visited a local funeral
home, placed my order (for a lot less than $10,000!!), and started
putting money aside to pay for it.

I wonder how many people buy $10,000 worth of insurance for an 'average'
funeral because the letter said they should?

Then again, it is a big expense - one of my office-mates is helping her
brother's family pay off his funeral right now.

I signed up with the Neptune Society, years ago. Since I was still
taking trips to Europe at the time, I chose their world-wide option. If
my nearest and dearest want any frills such as memorial services,
they're on their own, but my cremation and no-frills burial at sea is
all taken care of, with a phone call to Neptune Society. (I think the
initial fee - which is increased by its periodic earnings until I depart
- was something like $1500.)

---MIKE--- wrote:
Wanting to spare my relatives any expense, I joined the cremation
society of NH and paid in advance for my cremation ($1,000). They will
even pick up my body once the death certificate is signed. This may
sound a bit morbid but after all I am 80 years old.

I was a lot younger than eighty when I joined the Neptune Society
(similar to what you describe). All paid for, so my relatives need not
face any decisions regarding burial plots or funeral expenses. I
remember once, when I was much younger, fielding a telemarketing call
fro California's Forest Lawn Cemetery - I told the woman on the phone
that I'd rather be tossed into a ditch somewhere than be buried in
Forest Lawn, and my feelings haven't changed! (Once the person has left
it, the body is so much decaying meat, so the most expedient means of
disposal is fine with me.)

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

---MIKE--- wrote:
Wanting to spare my relatives any expense, I joined the cremation
society of NH and paid in advance for my cremation ($1,000). They will
even pick up my body once the death certificate is signed. This may
sound a bit morbid but after all I am 80 years old.

I was a lot younger than eighty when I joined the Neptune Society
(similar to what you describe). All paid for, so my relatives need not
face any decisions regarding burial plots or funeral expenses. I
remember once, when I was much younger, fielding a telemarketing call
fro California's Forest Lawn Cemetery - I told the woman on the phone
that I'd rather be tossed into a ditch somewhere than be buried in
Forest Lawn, and my feelings haven't changed! (Once the person has left
it, the body is so much decaying meat, so the most expedient means of
disposal is fine with me.)

I find this topic fascinating. I really wish it weren't illegal to bury
someone right in the ground, without a coffin. Just strip me naked and
cover me with dirt. That may sound weird to some people, but I think
it sounds very restful. (Yes, I do realize that I won't feel anything,
but I do *now*, thinking about it.) Then plant a tree above it, or a
rosebush or whatever.

I suppose in some types of terrain, that wouldn't be advisable (eg, New
Orleans? Eww.) but if you dig the standard 6-foot hole and put a body in
it without a coffin, they'd just decay faster, which is a good thing. No
embalming fluid, either, thank you!

Joyce

--
Something you'll never hear an 8-year-old say:

"Nana, will you spit on your hankie and wipe the gravy off my face?"

i just was sitting here remembering how upset my family got when we were
discussing this and i said, put me in a biodegradable bag and let the trash
guy deal with me, its nothing to do with me when i am gone... and for the
bible readers, it does NOT say ashes to concrete,... the whole burial thing
just holds up the good you can do the earth, Lee
wrote in message
...
"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

---MIKE--- wrote:
Wanting to spare my relatives any expense, I joined the cremation
society of NH and paid in advance for my cremation ($1,000). They will
even pick up my body once the death certificate is signed. This may
sound a bit morbid but after all I am 80 years old.

I was a lot younger than eighty when I joined the Neptune Society
(similar to what you describe). All paid for, so my relatives need not
face any decisions regarding burial plots or funeral expenses. I
remember once, when I was much younger, fielding a telemarketing call
fro California's Forest Lawn Cemetery - I told the woman on the phone
that I'd rather be tossed into a ditch somewhere than be buried in
Forest Lawn, and my feelings haven't changed! (Once the person has left
it, the body is so much decaying meat, so the most expedient means of
disposal is fine with me.)

I find this topic fascinating. I really wish it weren't illegal to bury
someone right in the ground, without a coffin. Just strip me naked and
cover me with dirt. That may sound weird to some people, but I think
it sounds very restful. (Yes, I do realize that I won't feel anything,
but I do *now*, thinking about it.) Then plant a tree above it, or a
rosebush or whatever.

I suppose in some types of terrain, that wouldn't be advisable (eg, New
Orleans? Eww.) but if you dig the standard 6-foot hole and put a body in
it without a coffin, they'd just decay faster, which is a good thing. No
embalming fluid, either, thank you!

Joyce

--
Something you'll never hear an 8-year-old say:

"Nana, will you spit on your hankie and wipe the gravy off my face?"

wrote in message
...
"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

---MIKE--- wrote:
Wanting to spare my relatives any expense, I joined the cremation
society of NH and paid in advance for my cremation ($1,000). They will
even pick up my body once the death certificate is signed. This may
sound a bit morbid but after all I am 80 years old.

I was a lot younger than eighty when I joined the Neptune Society
(similar to what you describe). All paid for, so my relatives need not
face any decisions regarding burial plots or funeral expenses. I
remember once, when I was much younger, fielding a telemarketing call
fro California's Forest Lawn Cemetery - I told the woman on the phone
that I'd rather be tossed into a ditch somewhere than be buried in
Forest Lawn, and my feelings haven't changed! (Once the person has left
it, the body is so much decaying meat, so the most expedient means of
disposal is fine with me.)

I find this topic fascinating. I really wish it weren't illegal to bury
someone right in the ground, without a coffin. Just strip me naked and
cover me with dirt.
(snippage)
Joyce

--
My mother said to me when we were planning Dad's funeral, "Whatever happened
to the good old days when you just dug a hole, a few friends and family came
over and you buried the person in the back yard?" These days I think they
call that covering up evidence of a crime. huge WINK Actually I don't
know why my mother would have said that. She wasn't quite old enough to
remember having a family member buried in anyone's yard.

But she had a point. Funerals are big business. My parents were both
cremated but even that cost a lot of money. Cremation is much cheaper than
a casket burial, but it's still not cheap. If they hadn't been entitled to
burial at the local National Cemetery their cremains would be sitting in
urns on the mantle or some such place in my house. I, for one, would not
have been happy about that. Some people want to keep their loved ones close
forever. Sorry, but that's a little too close for my comfort.

I'm all for a pre-paid cremation/burial plan. But I remember a funeral home
in TN that was investigated and shut down after refusing to honor pre-paid
plans. They claimed they bought the business from another funeral home and
didn't have to honor the pre-paid plans even though thousands of people
purchased them, many on installments, some 40 years ago. When it came time
for them to honor the claims they said no, their agreement wasn't with them,
it was with the previous owners. I don't recall how it wound up in court
but in the meantime these folks were out a lot of money and still had to pay
to bury their loved ones. You can't just leave them sitting around until
the courts grind their slow gears. So, let the buyer beware!

As for Persia (when her time comes) now that I own a home I *will* have her
cremains interred in my back yard and the grave marked with a memorial
stone.

Jill

wrote:

I suppose in some types of terrain, that wouldn't be advisable (eg, New
Orleans? Eww.) but if you dig the standard 6-foot hole and put a body in
it without a coffin

Or if that's a bit too much work :-) :

I spied an old man looking awfully queer
He was under a tree with a bottle of beer
When I got there he'd been dead for a year
In the field of the willows so gay

Well to leave him unburied I thought was a sin
But I was too lazy a grave to begin
So I put on my boots and I trampled him in-
To the field of the willows so gay

-- Dave Goulder, "Field of the Willows"

--

Wayne M.

I am donating my body to science..I am an organ donor and the
Univ could 'practice' on me when I'm gone. * shrug*
Kyla

i just was sitting here remembering how upset my family got when we were
discussing this and i said, put me in a biodegradable bag and let the trash
guy deal with me, its nothing to do with me when i am gone... and for the
bible readers, it does NOT say ashes to concrete,... the whole burial thing
just holds up the good you can do the earth, Lee

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

---MIKE--- wrote:
Wanting to spare my relatives any expense, I joined the cremation
society of NH and paid in advance for my cremation ($1,000). They
will
even pick up my body once the death certificate is signed. This may
sound a bit morbid but after all I am 80 years old.

I was a lot younger than eighty when I joined the Neptune Society
(similar to what you describe). All paid for, so my relatives need not
face any decisions regarding burial plots or funeral expenses. I
remember once, when I was much younger, fielding a telemarketing call
fro California's Forest Lawn Cemetery - I told the woman on the phone
that I'd rather be tossed into a ditch somewhere than be buried in
Forest Lawn, and my feelings haven't changed! (Once the person has
left
it, the body is so much decaying meat, so the most expedient means of
disposal is fine with me.)

I find this topic fascinating. I really wish it weren't illegal to bury
someone right in the ground, without a coffin. Just strip me naked and
cover me with dirt. That may sound weird to some people, but I think
it sounds very restful. (Yes, I do realize that I won't feel anything,
but I do *now*, thinking about it.) Then plant a tree above it, or a
rosebush or whatever.

I suppose in some types of terrain, that wouldn't be advisable (eg, New
Orleans? Eww.) but if you dig the standard 6-foot hole and put a body in
it without a coffin, they'd just decay faster, which is a good thing. No
embalming fluid, either, thank you!

Joyce

--
Something you'll never hear an 8-year-old say:

"Nana, will you spit on your hankie and wipe the gravy off my face?"

Christina Websell wrote:
How many of you take this out for your cats?
I decided I wouldn't but instead I decided when I got KFC & Boyfie I would
set aside an amount per month to go from my salary into a special account
for them.
It has always covered every vets bill they ever had and Boyfie could now get
ill to the amount that it's unlikely that his bank account could not pay for
it.
I would recommend that everyone does this - it saves arguing about what or
what not the insurance people decide to cover and it doesn't cost any more
than the premium if you start it early.
Boyfie has a lot of money in his account now. He's 7 and he is fine, but
his vet account is there for him as he ages and is increased every month.

Tweed




What's available in Oz

http://www.medibank.com.au/Pet-Insur...A2gwo dKmX8-w

12 years ago when DH's father died, they, he and stepmother had paid for
everything, they did the thing ahead of time, i won't say what became of the
ashes... it cost 900.00 dollars for everything except some travel expenses
for step mom, a very dear friend died twenty four hours ahead of DH's dad,
the daughter spent in excess of five thousand dollars. Lee
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
...
"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

---MIKE--- wrote:
Wanting to spare my relatives any expense, I joined the cremation
society of NH and paid in advance for my cremation ($1,000). They
will
even pick up my body once the death certificate is signed. This may
sound a bit morbid but after all I am 80 years old.

I was a lot younger than eighty when I joined the Neptune Society
(similar to what you describe). All paid for, so my relatives need not
face any decisions regarding burial plots or funeral expenses. I
remember once, when I was much younger, fielding a telemarketing call
fro California's Forest Lawn Cemetery - I told the woman on the phone
that I'd rather be tossed into a ditch somewhere than be buried in
Forest Lawn, and my feelings haven't changed! (Once the person has
left
it, the body is so much decaying meat, so the most expedient means of
disposal is fine with me.)

I find this topic fascinating. I really wish it weren't illegal to bury
someone right in the ground, without a coffin. Just strip me naked and
cover me with dirt.
(snippage)
Joyce

--
My mother said to me when we were planning Dad's funeral, "Whatever
happened to the good old days when you just dug a hole, a few friends and
family came over and you buried the person in the back yard?" These days
I think they call that covering up evidence of a crime. huge WINK
Actually I don't know why my mother would have said that. She wasn't
quite old enough to remember having a family member buried in anyone's
yard.

But she had a point. Funerals are big business. My parents were both
cremated but even that cost a lot of money. Cremation is much cheaper
than a casket burial, but it's still not cheap. If they hadn't been
entitled to burial at the local National Cemetery their cremains would be
sitting in urns on the mantle or some such place in my house. I, for one,
would not have been happy about that. Some people want to keep their
loved ones close forever. Sorry, but that's a little too close for my
comfort.

I'm all for a pre-paid cremation/burial plan. But I remember a funeral
home in TN that was investigated and shut down after refusing to honor
pre-paid plans. They claimed they bought the business from another
funeral home and didn't have to honor the pre-paid plans even though
thousands of people purchased them, many on installments, some 40 years
ago. When it came time for them to honor the claims they said no, their
agreement wasn't with them, it was with the previous owners. I don't
recall how it wound up in court but in the meantime these folks were out a
lot of money and still had to pay to bury their loved ones. You can't
just leave them sitting around until the courts grind their slow gears.
So, let the buyer beware!

As for Persia (when her time comes) now that I own a home I *will* have
her cremains interred in my back yard and the grave marked with a memorial
stone.

Jill