Life Insurers Must Compete Harder With 'Passing the Hat': Prudential

"It's heartbreaking to see so many families left to rely on the generosity of the crowd to help cover ever-increasing end-of life expenses when a loved one passes away," Hitchcock-Gear said in a tweet.

In an infographic Prudential has prepared to convey its concern about final expense crowding, the company cited 2015 data from the Funeral and Memorial Information Council. The council found that one in six of the consumers ages 20 to 39 that it surveyed reported that they had solicited money for funeral expenses, or donated money for funeral expenses.

The average funeral cost more than $7,000 in 2014, and the average final expense crowdfunding campaign raised only about $3,000, according to Prudential.

A typical 30-year-old can buy $100,000 term life insurance for just $17 per month, and the beneficiaries can use the benefits to cover many different expenses, such as ordinary bills, as well as funeral and memorial expenses, Prudential explained in the infographic.

— Read Funeralwise.com Aims New Tool at Final Expense Planners, on ThinkAdvisor.

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