Contemplating one's own death can be considered morbid, but it's important that you work through some important details prior to your passing in order to alleviate stress on your surviving family members.

One of the major decisions that you will face when planning for your death is whether you want your body to be buried or cremated. Cremation can be the answer to many concerns that you might have regarding your death.

Cremation is cost effective.

One of the primary reasons people choose to be cremated is to reduce the financial burden placed on family members after their passing.

The average funeral and burial in the United States can cost upwards of $12,000. Cremation, while still costly, can reduce your post-death costs to around $6,300. This is a significant amount that will allow your surviving family members to avoid incurring debt to pay for your final expenses.

If you are worried that your loved ones will not have the money needed to cover your funeral costs, opt for cremation instead of a traditional burial.

Cremation is environmentally friendly.

Preserving the environment is something that is important to many people in life. If you want to continue your efforts to preserve precious resources after your death, then cremation could be your best option since traditional burials utilize a lot of natural resources.

National Geographic has stated that traditional American funerals and burials use 30 million board feet of wood for caskets, 1.6 million tons of concrete for burial vaults, and over 800,000 gallons of potentially toxic embalming fluid. Opting for cremation instead of burial allows you to eliminate the need for a casket, vault, or embalming.

Cremation is the greenest option available to those wishing to continue their tradition of environmental preservation even after death.

Cremation offers maximum portability.

Surviving family members want to remember their loved ones after they have passed away. Visiting a graveside or memorial can be a great way to pay one's respects, but these traditional burial options don't take into account the transient nature of modern living.

The typical American will undergo an average of 11.4 moves during his or her lifetime. These moves can take people away from their hometowns and the loved one's burial place.

Cremation ensures that your children or spouse will be able to transport your remains whenever they relocate so that they can always pay tribute to your memory. Cremation is the only post-death option that offers such portability.