Preneed

Survey finds continued growth in the Preneed market . . but, there are cracks in the armor

By Funeral Director Daily / April 27, 2026 /

  Preneed continues to grow. . . .but is the growth enough?  That is a great question and, among other things, we will look at the percentage growth of preneed on a “revenue per preneed contract” basis in this article.   Statistics on Preneed are difficult to find because of the private nature of the…

Park Lawn situation: In Substack article, author Russo opines on the events of last week

By Funeral Director Daily / April 23, 2026 /

  On Monday of this week Substack, under their “On Deathcare” platform released a very well researched article by author Tony Russo titled, “Why are we still pretending Homesteaders is ‘just’ a Park Lawn investor?”   You can access the article here.   (Editor’s Note:  Sorry for the delay.  This article was scheduled to be…

Propel Funeral Partners First-Half FY2026 continues upward trends

By Funeral Director Daily / March 27, 2026 /

  When you look at the First-Half of the 2026 Fiscal Year for Propel Funeral Partners you will not notice anything “earth shattering”.  From my point of view, when that is the case with an owner and operator of Death Care establishments, that is probably good news.   I’m one who looks for slow, stable,…

Funeral planning: There seems to be a gap between “Perception and Action”

By Funeral Director Daily / March 12, 2026 /

    Funeral planning is an interesting topic on an individual basis.  In my opinion, regardless of your age, self-mortality is a thought all human beings have at more than one point in their lives.  However, the vast majority of us do nothing to prepare for the Death Care needs of it — such as…

Homesteaders celebrates 120 years, $5 Billion in force

By Funeral Director Daily / February 27, 2026 /

  In a press release received the other day, Homesteaders Life Company, a national leader in Preneed Death Care funding announced that 2026 marks the 120th year for the company.  The company issued its first policy in February 1906 and, according to the company press release, “has since grown into the most often-use preneed company…

Is a 10% credit card interest rate ceiling good news for funeral homes? . . . Maybe not

By Funeral Director Daily / January 20, 2026 /

  Today is January 20.  It is the day that President Trump wanted to institute one of his ideas for making life more “affordable”.  That idea is a 10% cap on interest rates on credit card balances for one year.   A recent Debt.com survey about funeral expenses and death, which you can access an…

Can you the provide the opportunity for additional Preneed sales in the 1st Quarter of 2026?

By Funeral Director Daily / January 14, 2026 /

  “Strike when the iron is hot“.  That’s a 15th-century saying that came from the blacksmith trade and meant to suggest that the blacksmith should “bend the metal when it is hot and somewhat flexible”.  Six centuries later in a world with fewer blacksmiths I would suggest that the saying now means “act now to…

More Americans take on debt to cover funerals

By Funeral Director Daily / December 12, 2025 /

  I came across this recent article from USA Today titled “Americans are going into debt over death.  Here are affordability tips.”  Reading that article led me to a survey and results from Debt.com and another article, that you can access here, titled “The Financial Toll of Grief: More than 1 in 3 Americans took…

Preneed companies emerge as funeral home lending sources

By Funeral Director Daily / October 3, 2025 /

    Morgan Stanley, a global financial services firm that provides a wide range of products and services, including investment banking, wealth management, consumer banking, and brokerage services, recently made this comment in an article, “Life insurance companies have rapidly evolved into influential players in the credit markets.  Their growing footprint is not merely a function…

Co-op Funeralcare increases “Funeral Plan” sales over 17% despite cyberattack

By Funeral Director Daily / October 1, 2025 /

  An April cyberattack which you can read about here probably cost the parent company of Great Britain’s largest funeral home operator, Co-op Funeralcare, about a US$ 107 million profit swing but didn’t seem to affect the number of funeral plans sold by the company as they increased over 17% from the previous year.  …