Funeral Director Daily

Actuaries become “Death Care” allies

By Funeral Director Daily / December 12, 2023 /

    Breaking the taboo of “End-of-Life” planning can only be a help for funeral services and other death care companies.  Funeral directors, funeral homes,  and cemeteries with progressive sales force techniques have known for a long time that getting one to talk about their mortality is what gets those consumers to eventually enter into…

The value of “non-combustible” cremation remains

By Funeral Director Daily / December 11, 2023 /

An interesting situation concerning “non-combustible” cremation remains was brought to light by this front-page lead story article in an edition of the Minneapolis Star Tribune last week.   The article is entitled, “Lakewood Cemetery alleged theft spotlights market for metal implants left after cremation”.  It goes on to explain that a former employee of the…

Seeking Alpha author suggests that Matthews Memorialization Segment could be “spun off”

By Funeral Director Daily / December 8, 2023 /

      It’s Friday and going into the weekend it’s always nice to have something to think about. . . . How about this for today. .   This article from Seeking Alpha looks at the past fiscal year for Matthews International and uses that information as well as what they gleaned from the…

West Virginia: 113-year old firm purchased by 4th generation Ohio firm

By Funeral Director Daily / December 7, 2023 /

  When you look at the map the Ohio River separates the states of Ohio and West Virginia as well as the cities of Steubenville, Ohio, and Weirton, West Virginia.  Now, however, the bridge over the Ohio River will not only connect the states and cities but two historical funeral homes as well.   It…

Loans are getting tougher for small business

By Funeral Director Daily / December 6, 2023 /

    You’ve probably heard it said before, “The only businesses that can get loans are those that don’t need them“.   There’s probably some truth to that statement because if you really need a loan for your business to function, your lender might worry about the cash-flow you generate and the ability to pay…

Finally some good news in America on life expectancy, but we’ve got a ways to go

By Funeral Director Daily / December 5, 2023 /

    It was only about two weeks ago that Funeral Director Daily reported the final numbers for life expectancy in the United States using the 2021 final figures.  At that time, as you can see in this article, life expectancy had been lowered for newborns in the United States to 76.1 years.   However,…

Have investors lost faith in Death Care?

By Funeral Director Daily / December 4, 2023 /

  If you are an investor — and with IRA’s and 401K plans virtually everyone is in today’s world — the month of November 2023 gave you reason for optimism.   After a couple of sluggish years of investor equity growth there now seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel with…

’tis the Season. . . How’s your charitable giving?

By Funeral Director Daily / December 1, 2023 /

  It’s hard not to notice all of the mail I get at this time of the year from charities asking me to remember them in my charitable giving for the year. . . . . I’m guessing that you probably give through your individual status, but have you ever thought of having a program…

Demographics and location continue to drive physical plant values

By Funeral Director Daily / November 30, 2023 /

    There is no doubt that the value, in totality, of your funeral business not only will come from your operations, but the location of your physical building as well.  Demographics, whether it be influx or outflux, as well as the nature of your community may change the value of the funeral home physical…

Learning from, and planning for, your funeral business in this economy

By Funeral Director Daily / November 29, 2023 /

    According to this recent article from USA Today “discretionary” consumer spending is down, consumer savings rates have fell, and use of consumer credit card debt has shot up in the last quarter with its largest jump since 1999. . . . That’s probably all good information to know, but what does it tell…