FUNERAL INDUSTRY GEARS UP FOR BOOMERS' FINAL ECONOMIC IMPACT

As the baby boom gets a little closer to the end of the generation, the funeral industry is shifting to cheaper and more personalized services. The U.S. Census Bureau projects the annual number of deaths in the United States will rise from 2.6 million next year to 3 million in 2024 and 4 million 2043. “We’ve known the (baby boomer trend) has been coming for some time, so the industry has been gearing up for that to happen,” said Bob Rosson, a Mississippi funeral home operator and executive board member of the National Funeral Directors Association. “We’ll be able to handle it.”

The number of deaths in the United States declined by 0.9 percent from 2005 to 2006, in part because of a mild flu season, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Baby boomers might live longer than their parents, but sooner or later they’ve got to go. Those who want traditional burials should prepare for rising prices. The median cost of funeral in the United States was $6,196 in 2006, according to a National Funeral Directors Association survey. The price, including a $2,255 metal casket, was 11 percent higher than in the association’s survey in 2004. The inclusion of a concrete vault, which many require, increases the price to $7,323. That’s the funeral that is going out of vogue,” said Joshua Slocum, exec. Director of Funeral Consumers Alliance. He predicts the funeral industry will respond to the rising death rate by offering cheaper services to compete.

Source: Sacramento Business Journal