Celebration coffee and business insights that may help funeral homes

 

 

I’m writing this article mid-morning on Saturday.  It’s already been a busy morning for me as I got up early and did my run and have since been to Starbucks for what I term my “Saturday Celebration Coffee” which celebrates my six consecutive days of running.  I take Sundays off!!

 

I’m also grateful for the fact that Angie and I spend three months in Florida during the winter and my run here this morning was in 68 degree F weather as compared to what I would have if I was in Minnesota today . . . . a minus 20 degree F day — that’s an 88 degree difference.  Now you see why in my retirement years I’ve leaned on at least a little time each winter in Florida!!!

 

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

On my “Saturday Celebration Coffee” days I always grab either the New York Times or Wall Street Journal hard copy and read it cover to cover.  That in itself is somewhat symbolic how buying habits have changed.  It’s the only day that I read a “hard copy” newspaper anymore after almost 60 years of reading the Minneapolis newspaper via hard copy starting when I was an elementary school student with the sports section spread out over our living room floor.  I point that out because even those of us in our 60’s do change our purchasing habits — and some funeral home owners I know don’t want to admit that fact.

 

In my reading today, I came across three items of potential expense to funeral home owners that I believe should be on your radar maybe more than they currently are because they may have some effect on your business moving forward.

 

Keeping Up with the Times —  An article from Fortune, which I cannot link for you because of a paywall, indicates that in the last part of 2024 companies like Party City, Big Lots, and the Container Store have filed for bankruptcy.  Here’s a couple of quotes from that article that should resonate with those in our profession who never want to change:

 

  • ” . . . they largely have themselves, and their failure to adapt their business models to post-COVID shopper habits, to blame.”

 

  • “. . . . the retailer let its stores get stale, and didn’t invest in the kind of tech for e-commerce and better in-store service needed to compete with Amazon or nimble brick-and-mortar rivals.” 

 

Debt —  I could not help but notice that the national average mortgage rate has moved up this week to 7.11%.  Here’s a link to a page where I found this statement “On Saturday, January 18, 2025, the current average interest rate for the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage is 7.11%.”

 

That’s simply a reminder to watch your debt levels as we move forward in 2025.  Inflation has proved to be stickier than many of the experts thought and that has kept interest rates what they term “Higher for longer”.  My advice is be judicious about the debt you carry as these interest levels are higher than we have been used to and I also suggest that one should try to retire debt, even if it is little by little as cash is available, whenever possible.

 

Health Care Costs — When America’s largest insurer of Health Care makes the comment that health care needs to be “less complex and less confusing” as in this linked article from Seeking Alpha, there are probably some issues that need correcting.  Health Care spending in America was approximately $14,570 per person in 2023 — up 7.5% from 2022.

 

Those expenses, in many cases, are paid by corporate America.  In 2023  17.6% of America’s Gross Domestic Product was spent on Health Care. . . . . and if either the raw cost or the GDP percentage continues to grow there is a pretty good possibility your business will be asked to pay more of the costs.

 

Health Care premiums are pretty complicated but I learned that “Enhanced Premium Subsidies” for the Affordable Care Act were extended to the end of 2025 by the American Rescue Plan in 2021If not renewed, there is a possibility that pressure could go up for businesses to offer more and more coverages to employees.

 

Those are three items that I feel could alter your funeral home’s budget in 2025.  So, keep up with the times so you don’t lose revenue, watch your debt so that interest doesn’t take more and more of your potential profits, and make sure that you understand the Health Care issues of the day because if you don’t understand the options in front of you. . . .you are probably not getting the best results for the dollar spent.

 

Another potential expense in the future????    —  And, here’s one more expense to have on your long-term radar.  It won’t happen for a while but already a couple of states, Vermont and New York are planning to tax businesses for their roles in climate change.  One way that is under consideration to determine the tax dollar number owed by a specific business is a theory called “Attribution Science”.

 

“Attribution Science” would try to determine what percentage of environmental change comes from your business.  i.e. if you install solar panels you probably have “zero” percentage attributed to that business.  However, if you operate a gas station or are a gasoline powered delivery truck business you probably have some percentage “attributed” to you and pay a tax. . . . . The first thing I thought about when reading this is “Where will crematories show on the attribution range”?

 

RelatedLawmakers hope to use this emerging climate science to charge oil companies for disasters.  Stateline

 

Anyway. . . .I learned a lot in an hour with the New York Times and I celebrated another week of good health and the ability to still run a couple of miles a day!!!  Life is Good!!!

 

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1 Comment

  1. Anonymous on January 23, 2025 at 8:31 am

    Thank you Tom. This is valuable , I’m forwarding it on. Have a good one!
    Sarah Tepe



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