Friday, March 17, 2017

New Final Expense Plan: KickStarter-style

Co-blogger Bob V tips us to this interesting new effort initiated by the folks at Legal and General America Life (corporate parent to Banner Life and William Penn Life), which "officially launched last week ALittleHelp.com, its new crowdfunding website dedicated solely to memorial funds."

Turns out, a lot of folks either don't buy or can't afford life insurance to pay final expenses, leaving families desperate for funds at their most vulnerable time. This led exec's at L&GA to launch this new crowdfunding program:

"We recognize that not everyone has gone through financial planning ... We deal with families every day that have gone through the planning. We just wanted a way to be there for those who haven’t."

Unlike established online crowdfunders like GoFundMe, L&GA's ALittleHelp.com won't be skimming off the top to cover overhead; it's worth noting, however, that funds do go through PayPal, which does charge transaction fees (although these are likely nominal).

There's even a way for folks to set up memorial funds for others who may not be as tech-savvy, or who don't have internet access themselves. The one thing that might be a turn off for some is that there's no anonymity for the beneficiaries:

"The person who is receiving the funds is disclosed on the website, so donors know who they are paying and that person can receive the money."

Nice to see carriers spearheading these kinds of efforts.

Kudos to Legal & General America.
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