20-Year Prospect

20-Year Prospect

Only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. Trust us, you've got this job security thing in the bag.

Approximately 2.5 million people died in the United States in 2010. While some of the dead probably ended up under a driveway, à la Jimmy Hoffa, almost everyone else received a proper send-off with your assistance.

Unfortunately, your assistance comes at a price: the median cost of a funeral in 2012 was $7,045…which is probably why forty-three percent of corpses were cremated that same year. And, since cemeteries around the country are quickly running out of room for the newly dead, it's possible we'll see even more cremations in the future, which means you won't be profiting from sales of the Super Fancy Ultra Deluxe Coffin (Now With Velour!).

But don't let the lack of burial space get you down. As the 76 million baby boomers in the United States start to die off, you can expect to see an uptick in business…and we bet you'll think of a way to tack a couple of zeroes on to the cost of a simple cremation.