What is pre-planning, why is it important and what does it have to do with legacy? This article discusses social norms around funeral planning, legacy, and all the benefits pre-planning can bring you and your loved ones.
What is pre-planning?
Pre-planning your final arrangements means addressing your final wishes regarding funeral and burial arrangements, legacy, and more. While it falls under the umbrella of estate planning, there are a few pre-planning steps that go beyond documenting your funeral and burial wishes.
One of the most important reasons to pre-plan is to help ease your loved ones’ pain and to have the service, memorialization event, or celebration of life you want. A recent study conducted by Arbor Memorial found that 78% of Canadians agree that marking the passing of a loved one through a service helps in the grieving process.
How to pre-plan in just 4 steps
- Explore your options and decide on your end-of-life wishes. During this step, you’ll likely consider burial or cremation, religious ceremonies, funeral homes, or unique services, or if there are any family traditions you’d like to include in your service.
- Compile your wishes. Gather your personal information, account numbers, location of important documents, and contacts and record this information all together in place.
- Choose your plan. Make plans to reflect how you want to be remembered by reviewing the traditional and modern options available to suit your taste, culture, and budget. Then talk it over with family and your Arbor contact
- Put your plan in place. Choose the payment terms that suit your needs. If you’d like some help with which plan works best with your budget, Arbor will work with you to create an affordable payment plan to fit your budget.
What do you want your legacy to be?
What do you think about when you hear the term 'legacy'? If you're like most Canadians, it might not be defined by wealth and success. Instead, it might be defined by the people you love and the people who love you.
In fact, the majority of Canadians agree that loved ones are the most important part of a legacy.
Of the 1,526 Canadian adults surveyed by Arbor Memorial, friends and family dominate in terms of importance compared to other considerations such as “success” or “wealth”: Pre-planning, as such, becomes one of the most important things we can do to preserve our legacies and take care of our loved ones in the future.
Now is the time to plan
Although 91% of Canadians surveyed acknowledged the inevitability of death and believe that pre-planning arrangements can alleviate the burden on their loved ones during mourning, 1 in 3 believe they can wait to start legacy planning until they are 55 years of age.
Against inflation and constant change, now is the time to invest in and plan for the future. Not 20 years from now, but today, when you’ve got all the tools at your disposal to do so and give you, and your loved ones, peace of mind.
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Already have your wishes documented? Pre-plan your final arrangements now →
About Arbor Memorial Inc.
Arbor Memorial is a trusted family-owned Canadian company with deep roots in diverse communities across the country. Established in 1947, Arbor has over 140 locations, and 25 of our cemeteries have full-service funeral homes on the premises, offering complete service to families. Learn more about Arbor Memorial here.
