On the eve of their 65th birthday, the first generation of Baby Boomers say they are satisfied with their life choices and remain optimistic about the years to come, according to a recent AARP survey.

While the boomers, born in 1946, are approaching retirement age, more than 34 percent are still in the workforce. Of those still employed or looking for work, 29 percent said the earliest they expect to retire is by age 70, and four-in-ten (40 percent) reported that they, “plan to work until [they] drop.”

“Some are staying on the job to shore up their nest eggs; others just can’t imagine life without work,” said AARP executive president Steve Cone.

Today’s Baby Boomers are considered to be more active than the generations before them. The AARP survey reported that in their retirement years, Boomers have no plans of slowing down or getting bored. In fact, 84 percent of the Boomers surveyed plan to take better care of their health, while 81 percent plan to spend more time with loved ones, and 74 percent plan to set aside more time to do the things they always wanted to do. Those plans include traveling more (61 percent), volunteering (54 percent), and taking classes to learn something new (44 percent).

Boomers reported that their health and personal finances are the most predominant concerns in their lives. Thirty percent of the Boomers surveyed said their health and finances are in worse shape than they previously expected. However, even with the recent recession, they feel hopeful about what the next five years will bring.

Thousands of baby boomers will turn 65 every year with a new life expectancy of 75.65 years for men and 80.69 years for women, according to 2010 estimates by the CIA World Factbook. Life insurance is one of the more feasible purchases that can prevent a loved one from struggling financially when a spouse dies. In addition to this, some whole life insurance products provide a cash value component that can help baby boomers save up money for their retirement years.

This article was originally published by Life Quotes, Inc.

Death is going green. A growing number of people are eschewing traditional end of life rituals for simpler, more environmentally friendly, and in many cases, less expensive green burials. Some casket manufacturers and funeral directors are responding to the trend.

Toxic embalming fluids, metal caskets and concrete vaults are prohibited, instead the deceased are buried in biodegradable caskets made of wicker or pine, or simply wrapped in a shroud, says Joe Sehee, executive director of the Green Burial Council, a New Mexico-based nonprofit organization that encourages sustainable death care.

Green burial sites are aesthetically pleasing, often offset with towering trees and fields of wildflowers. Headstones are replaced with small fieldstone markers or no markers at all. The difference between a traditional burial site and a green cemetery is that they are designed to protect and restore the land, Sehee says.

“People want to be buried under a tree or in a field. It’s nothing new. They’ve been doing this for more than 100 years. People find solace in being buried in a peaceful surrounding,” Sehee says. He adds there are no state laws mandating the use of burial vaults or embalming fluids. It’s usually the cemetery’s policy.

The manner of burial makes no difference as far as life insurance or burial insurance is concerned, according to Steven Brostoff, spokesman for American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), a Washington, and D.C.-based trade association. “Life insurance is for financial protection; it pays benefits upon death,” Brostoff says.

There are no statistics on green burials. However, in a 2007 survey by AARP 21 percent of Americans older than age 50 said they would prefer an eco-friendly burial, Sehee says. He says a March 2010 survey commissioned by the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association found 25 percent of those polled like the idea of environmentally- friendly burials.

Normal burials use toxic embalming fluids that contaminate the soil, concrete vaults, large headstones and caskets made of wood or steel that never degrade, staying in the ground forever. Cremations using older methods spew carbon emissions into the air, according to Sehee.

“It is definitely a growing trend. It is equivalent to what cremation was 20 to 30 years ago,” says Edward Bixby II, proprietor of Steelmantown Cemetery Natural Burial Ground in New Jersey.

Bixby says it’s not just baby boomers, environmentalists and those looking to save a dollar fueling this trend. “A good 80 to 85 percent of my business doesn’t come from environmentalists. They’re just everyday people who don’t want to be embalmed,” he says.

Bixby says the average cost of a burial at his cemetery ranges from $2,500 to $4,000, compared to the $8,500 average cost of a traditional funeral in New Jersey, but Sehee says costs of a green burial can increase if a person chooses a more expensive biodegradable casket such as a seagrass casket. It may be cheaper to use an old blanket or shroud, or be buried at a cemetery in a different state. Only 40 states have green cemeteries to date.

Bixby says in 2006, the first year he opened, he did six green burials and about a dozen pre-needs. The burial number is the same, but the pre-needs are growing substantially. He says his average customer is between the ages of 30 and 55. As they reach the natural dying age, he expects the number of burials to jump.

Bixby’s cemetery is one of 23 certified green cemeteries by the Green Burial Council. It has 10 acres, nine of which are wooded. Graves are marked by fieldstones and Bixby knows exactly where every one is buried if families can’t find the location.

Sehee has a list of more than 300 certified green providers, including cemeteries, funeral homes and products such as biodegradable caskets, shrouds and urns. This is up from only a dozen providers total at the beginning of 2008.

The baby boomer generation has watched the recession cripple its retirement savings and financial assets, forcing many of them out of retirement and into low-paying jobs. Many Americans are now scrambling to create a savings plan that will allow them to provide for their families when they are gone.

Life insurance is one investment that will provide loved ones with the financial stability they may otherwise lack in the event of a spouse’s or parent’s death. Even a small investment may leave survivors with more income to support themselves than savings or Social Security alone.

“This is the simplest way to make something out of next to nothing,” AARP Financial president Mac Hisey tells Money Magazine.

Those with limited income may consider purchasing a second-to-die life insurance policy, which is typically less expensive than an individual policy. This joint policy covers both husband and wife and pays the beneficiary, usually children, when the second spouse dies, reports Money Magazine.

The recession has proven that anyone can fall under difficult financial times, severely jeopardizing their assets. Life insurance provides a sense of relief to policyholders that they will be able to leave something behind to their survivors.

This article was originally published by Life Quotes, Inc.

This is because the complex nature of settling a person’s estate means that important assets can often be overlooked if there are no clear heirs or if family members are not aware that they are in line for an inheritance.

According to the American Association of Retired Persons, life insurance companies are not technically required under the law to locate beneficiaries in the event that a policyholder dies.

However, the AARP notes that many companies do try to locate designees and that if they are unable to do so, the money ends up being held by the state in the form of unclaimed property.
The AARP also advises family members that it is generally up to the estate or beneficiary to inform a life insurance company when a policyholder has died.

On a separate note, it’s also important for people to be sure their life insurance designees are kept up to date, such as after major events like a divorce, re-marriage or the birth of a child.