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[irhack]

In the first job/last job thread someone made the quip that they should have bought a cemetery plot with their first paycheck.

I've been thinking of this myself, as something to do maybe in the next five years. I'm in my 30's, so hopefully won't be using it for awhile, but there's a beautiful woodsy cemetery near my home (where I plan to live for the rest of my life), and I'd love to secure a space in there before it fills up or becomes less charming. Does that make sense, financially, or is it a ridiculous use of money?

[macaroon]

In the first job/last job thread someone made the quip that they should have bought a cemetery plot with their first paycheck.

I've been thinking of this myself, as something to do maybe in the next five years. I'm in my 30's, so hopefully won't be using it for awhile, but there's a beautiful woodsy cemetery near my home (where I plan to live for the rest of my life), and I'd love to secure a space in there before it fills up or becomes less charming. Does that make sense, financially, or is it a ridiculous use of money?

So, this is not a financial comment on buying a plot. 

irhack, you do have children, right?  I'd wait until your children are settled.  You may retire and move in with your kids, and you might want a plot that your kids and grandkids can visit. 

My parents purchased a plot in their hometown many, many years ago, back when our nuclear family briefly lived there, and are now partly regretting that.  They are from a rust-belt dump, and the only relatives that live there anymore are my father's parents.  Fifteen years ago, they moved to their current city, very far from where the plots are. 

So this is a problem.  One, if they have the funeral in plot city, none of their friends will attend.  It will basically be me and my brother.  After my father's parents pass away, my brother and I have no connection to plot city and will probably not be able to justify flying to plot city to visit the graves.  (We won't visit the graves in current city, either, because again that's a plane trip, rental car, and hotel... but their friends might).  If they didn't have the plots, they'd be considering cremation followed by some crazy disposal of ashes somewhere. 

[ls410]

My parents bought plots in my mom's hometown when they were in their late 40s.  Her parents are buried there and it sounded like a great idea at the time.  Fast forward 15-20 years and they realized it was really silly.  My mom recently passed away and was cremated.  We did spread some of her ashes on her parents' graves but my dad has already decided he will be cremated too.  I think he will just give the plots to relatives that live there.

[missemily]

You can have your ashes buried in a cemetery plot if having a plot is important to you. And if that particular cemetery is important to you, keep in mind that if you live thousands of miles away at the time of your death, the memorial service can be held there, and the burial can be a simple affair in your cemetery of choice.

Buying pre-need is less expensive than having your survivors buy the plot when it is needed. Another thing to consider is whether you will need just the plot for yourself or additional plots for other family members. If you need just the one for yourself, talk with the staff at the cemetery office and see what single plots are available. If you don't need two together, you may be able to get a deal.

Not everyone would want to do this, but it is possible to select the headstone in advance and have everything on it but the date of death, and have it put into place. (Of course, if you are lost at sea, you will have spent that money for nothing!) Then your survivors don't have to make all those decisions about which headstone you might have wanted.

You will want to check into the financial stability of the cemetery before buying a plot there (or installing a pre-need headstone).

[zuzu_]

Not everyone would want to do this, but it is possible to select the headstone in advance and have everything on it but the date of death, and have it put into place. (Of course, if you are lost at sea, you will have spent that money for nothing!) Then your survivors don't have to make all those decisions about which headstone you might have wanted.

Heh. My grandma bought her plot next to her husband when she was widowed at 28. The stone said 1931-19__

Boy was she pissed when she realized she got bamboozled and had to pay to have it switched to a 20__. She died in 2005.

[clean]

I'd love to secure a space in there before it fills up or becomes less charming

What am i missing?  How does buying a plot now keep the place from becoming less charming?

[jmargerum]

Definitely buy a plot.  You can always sell it back if you change your mind.

Jon

[aside]

Definitely buy a plot.  You can always sell it back if you change your mind.

Jon

+1  Am doing something similar myself.

Heh. My grandma bought her plot next to her husband when she was widowed at 28. The stone said 1931-19__

Boy was she pissed when she realized she got bamboozled and had to pay to have it switched to a 20__. She died in 2005.

My family is so "thrifty" that in such a case the stone would read "1931-1999+6."

[zharkov]

.....Of course, if you are lost at sea, you will have spent that money for nothing!.....

Or add the term "cenotaph," which is not uncommon for people lost a sea.  (Cenotaph just means a monument sans remains, a few in the old cemetery in Zhark Ville.)

[irhack]

I'd love to secure a space in there before it fills up or becomes less charming

What am i missing?  How does buying a plot now keep the place from becoming less charming?

Most of the cemetary looks like a forest, but I've seen how expansion goes at these places. In 30 years, there might just be spots left that are laid out in boring treeless grids.

[spork]

Will you or a beneficiary be able to resell the plot in the future for a real rate of return that exceeds that of other investments? If this is unlikely, don't bother buying one.

Per my dad's wishes, I had him cremated in the cheapest box allowed by law, no funeral service, and scattered his ashes in a location unknown to the authorities. Cost was around $1200 if I remember correctly. My mother is donating her body to science, which should be even cheaper, since I think the recipient organization pays for the cremation.

[oldadjunct]

I don't get cemeteries, let alone planning in advance a nice place to be planted.  I am pretty certain my interest will be zero for far longer than it ever existed at all.  Even, or especially, if I believed in an afterlife it sure as hell better be more than waxing nostalgic about the view from my head stone.  If you want to make money go all Elizabethan and set the plot up as a rental property, preferably a charming triple decker with underground parking.

Maybe only in 21stC America do we wonder about the investment opportunities of a burial plot.   

[infopri]

Heh. My grandma bought her plot next to her husband when she was widowed at 28. The stone said 1931-19__

Boy was she pissed when she realized she got bamboozled and had to pay to have it switched to a 20__. She died in 2005.

My family is so "thrifty" that in such a case the stone would read "1931-1999+6."

Don't forget that you pay by the character, so that "+6" will cost you extra.


I'm not a morbid person, but for a variety of reasons I actually spend a lot of time thinking about where to be buried, whether to buy a plot, etc.  My grandfather and his brothers bought a gigantic family plot in a state that I hate, but I've inherited ownership of the plot (along with my sister and a couple of the many cousins), so I could be buried there for just the cost of the actual interment.  (That is, I wouldn't have to pay for the grave itself, just the burial.)  My great-grandparents are there, as are my grandparents, my mother, and lots of great-aunts, great-uncles, and cousins.  There are still plenty of spots left, and my sister plans to use one of them for herself.  But I don't want to be buried there.

I always thought My Better Half and I would be buried in MyCity, where we've lived for more than 30 years and which has a couple of truly lovely cemeteries.  But last year we unexpectedly were able to buy a home in Somewhere Warm, where we now live six months out of the year and where, eventually, we will probably live year-round--which will leave us with no real connection to MyCity anymore, and it's a long, long way from Somewhere Warm to MyCity (about 1,600 miles).  But at the same time I don't want to be buried in Somewhere Warm (for many reasons, some of which I can't provide here because they would identify where Somewhere Warm is).  So I have no idea what we'll do.


Now here's a really sad thing:  My other great-grandparents on that side of the family bought a small family plot, too, near where I grew up.  It was big enough for them, their children, and the four spouses of the children.  Both of the great-grandparents are buried there--but no one else is.  All of the children are gone now, but they're all buried in different places.  (One of the children was my grandmother, and she, of course, is in the other family plot, with my grandfather, my mother, and the others.)  So there my great-grandparents lie for all eternity, all by themselves, when they thought they'd be surrounded by their offspring.  And it's a really pretty little cemetery that, unfortunately, was developing that look of neglect the last time I was there, back in the 1990s.  I almost want to be buried there, just so the plots aren't wasted and so my great-grandparents wouldn't be all alone.

[quotiazelda]

My family has a cemetery, so that's where I'll be. Mr. Zelda is not thrilled at the idea of spending eternity in my Deep South home state but he knows that 1) if he dies first, I'm sticking him there, and 2) if I die first and he doesn't bury me there, I'll haunt him.

My biggest concern is my gravestone. I think I need to go ahead and look for one I like now. I don't like the ones that are most commonly sold now, so I will need to hunt for a nice one. After I die, I fear that Mr. Zelda will be too prostrate with grief to find one, and if I end up with an ugly gravestone, I will haunt him.

[aside]

Heh. My grandma bought her plot next to her husband when she was widowed at 28. The stone said 1931-19__

Boy was she pissed when she realized she got bamboozled and had to pay to have it switched to a 20__. She died in 2005.

My family is so "thrifty" that in such a case the stone would read "1931-1999+6."

Don't forget that you pay by the character, so that "+6" will cost you extra.

Heh.  I assumed correcting the "19" to "20" would cost more.