Expert Column
Dr. Ed Markin
Ed Markin, BS, MBA, PhD, is Director of Research for the Alzheimer's Disease Research...read more
Articles In This Column
Funeral Planning: Going in Style
The Funeral Consultant: To Hire or Not to Hire?
Perhaps you've never heard of a funeral consultant, but even if you haven't you probably agree that professional planners are sanity savers. For anything more involved than eloping, for example, many people hire a wedding planner— a professional consultant whose sole job is to plan this expensive, once-in-a-lifetime event. Like a wedding planner, a funeral consultant is professionally engaged but not emotionally attached to the outcome of the event that she plans; she is ultimately responsible for educating you...Read entire article »
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Dust to Dust: How to Have a "Green" Burial
Everywhere you look these days, the word "green" is used to describe everything from kitty litter to building materials and with living green as the current rage it stands to reason we’d eventually get around to dying green, or the green burial, as well. And so we have. Ten years ago the UK—who is far ahead of us on this—had five designated green cemeteries. Today there are more than 200. The United States is getting on board, with green...Read entire article »
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A Consumer's Guide to Death & Planning Your Own Funeral
There is one sentence that sums up what everyone knows about death and funeral planning, "You're going to die." It's true, you know. You are going to die. We all do in time, but few of us care to consider the logistics involved when it happens, especially regarding the funeral. This denial of death often leaves your loved ones in a fix as they try to give you what you would have wanted, though you never cared to discuss...Read entire article »
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It's Your Funeral: How to Save Money Through Planning
Some years ago I wrote a home care manual for families of people with Alzheimer's disease called Coping with Alzheimer's. Near the end of the book, which addresses the final stages of the disease, I recommended that the family start preparing for the end by gathering the insurance policies, wills and other legal documents that will be needed when death occurs and to help plan for the funeral. To my chagrin, a reader in Texas followed my directions to the...Read entire article »
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