Check a funeral insurance quote: when the premiums overtake the payout, and what the same payments would build in savings instead.
Updated October 2026Built and checked by MaverickHow it's calculatedReport an error
Premiums pass cover
Age 79
after 24 years of premiums
Premium this year
$650
for $15,000 of cover
Saved instead
$28,178
by age 79 at 4.8%
Already saved
$0
0% of the cover amount
Total premiums paid by each age on your quote, against the cover your family would receive. Most policies cancel, with no refund, if you stop paying.
Moneysmart puts funeral costs at $6,000 to $18,000, depending on the service. Funeral insurance pays a lump sum towards those costs, but you keep paying premiums until you die, so you can end up paying more than your family gets back, and most policies cancel with no refund if you stop paying. Moneysmart warns about both. Enter the premium from your quote and this calculator shows when the premiums overtake the payout, and what the same payments would build in a savings account instead.
Age 55, quoted $25 a fortnight for $15,000 of cover, with a premium that doesn't rise with age.
That's $650 a year, so the premiums pass the $15,000 payout after 24 years, at 79. Saving the same $650 a year at the RBA's average bonus saver rate would pass $15,000 by about 72, and savings stay yours if you stop paying.
70 years old, with $12,000 to put aside.
A $12,000 funeral bond is a one-off payment, with no premiums to keep up. It's within the $16,250 limit (from 1 July 2026), so it's exempt from the Centrelink assets test. What it's worth later depends on the bond's investment returns.