"The addition of a pre-paid funeral plan to your portfolio acts not only as a great way to boost your own income at this time, but as a foundation for the future"
More recently, restrictions such as regulations limiting chargeable fees, banks not lending and the housing markets becoming static, has led to professional mortgage advisers and equity release specialists scouring other industries for additional products and services available to offer alongside their current proposition.
Naturally, this has morphed into the later life planning market where small but frequent incomes have provided the backbone of reputable adviser’s customer base.
In the main, legal services such as wills and whole of life property trusts have been the obvious go-to. After all, buying and selling a property requires a legal change of the will to ensure it remains valid and fit for purpose - a no brainer! Unsurprisingly however, savvier advisers have looked for less-traditional products and services within a similar marketplace.
The emergence of pre-paid funeral plans within the mortgage and equity release sectors has been significant, and several national equity release firms now offer these products, as standard, to their over 55 market – but why?
Many people who haven’t arranged a funeral don’t realise that funeral prices are increasing way in excess of the rate of inflation, beyond the cost of living and disproportionately with many other commodities. Yet it is, sadly, the one cost we have to bare. Maybe, the inevitability of requiring such an expensive ending has led to such a dramatic rise in cost, a sort of stealth-death-tax if you will.
Over the last 30 years, but more so in the last 10, pre-paid funeral plans have been the go-to product to combat these sharp increases and, as a result of such huge demand, has boomed into a professional adviser service which thousands now offer their clients.
Sure, earning a significant sales fee is an attractive add on, but knowing that you have assisted your customer (and their family) at a very difficult time in their lives comes with a huge amount of personal satisfaction and even greater amount of future business from families and referrals: The proverbial circle of life some might say!
With the current pandemic decimating the housing market, and the upcoming recession likely to irreparably damage the lenders, having additional income streams is vital to long-term sustainability within this sector.
The addition of a pre-paid funeral plan to your portfolio acts not only as a great way to boost your own income at this time, but as a foundation for the future to integrate on a more personal level with the families and friends of your customers. As we entre the next phase of our growth, we expect to see a spike in new professionals offering our products and services and we look forward to growing, together.
