I have now developed plans for several clients.  To give you an idea of what CSA does, the following is an example plan.  As discussed in a previous blog and also mentioned below, the development of this plan for your specific case is free.

 THIS IS AN EXAMPLE PLAN                                   

THE ACTUAL PLAN IS TAILORED SPECIFICALLY FOR EACH CLIENT                                 

Dear Mr ABC,

Re: Plan for Cryonics services

Thank you for your interest in the services Cryonics Services Australia Pty Ltd (CSA) provides.  I am pleased to construct a plan for your specific cryonics needs.  I need to provide the caveat that neither I nor CSA, who I represent, are providing financial, insurance, legal or any other similar services advice or specific products.  All these will be provided by licensed qualified specialists.  I am coordinating these services for your cryonics needs.  Also, the numbers/amounts shown in this letter and its attachments for these services are approximate numbers based on my experience.  The actual quotes will be provided by the qualified specialists. Unless otherwise stated the dollars are Australian dollars.

You will note that the plan may be set up for upfront fees from about $600 and ongoing fees of $650 to $850 a year, mainly for life insurance.

If you recall the process I outlined for you, this plan is step 1.  Our review of this plan is step 2 and the actual implementation is step 3.  There is no fee from CSA for steps 1 and 2.  For step 3 there will be fees from CSA and some of the service providers.  For CSA, the fee will depend on what services you desire CSA to coordinate and I can give you an approximate idea of this fee in this document.  Also, I can provide approximately what the fee will be for the professional service providers, but the actual will depend on their fee structures.  You are under no obligation to proceed to step 3.   Please feel free to contact me if this is not clear.

THE DETAILS YOU PROVIDED TO ME:

Name: ABC

Address: xxxxxxxxxx

Gender: Male

DOB: early 1960’s (age early 50’s)

Email: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.com

YOUR OBJECTIVE:

To be cryonically suspended by a professional cryonics organization upon your legal death and to have the funds to do this.  Additionally, to have adequate funds at the time of your possible deanimation.  You fully understand that there are no guarantees in cryonics and, in particular, eventual revival after suspension is not guaranteed.

YOUR PLAN:

Cryonics Organization

I would recommend using Cryonics Institute (CI) in the USA at this time.  They have the lowest cost structure and it is easier to change your mind later.  The reason you may want to change your mind is that Stasis Systems Australia (SSA) in Australia may be a more desirable option for you when they are operational.  This could be about 2 years or so in the future.

Current costs at CI: US$35,000 for a suspension.  This does not include standby or transportation. You do not pay this now.  This will be paid for through life insurance or similar financial vehicles.  Please note this is the current amount so we need to work out what you may need in the future.  We will do that in the section on life insurance.

Current ongoing costs at CI: US$195 member fee for the first year, then US$120 a year there after.  You pay this after joining this organization.

CSA would complete all the CI documentation (some is quite complex) for you and explain it to you before submitting to CI.  You may, with the appropriate notice, cease your agreement with CI at any time.  This gives you flexibility for the future if you wish to change to another organization.

Long Term Trust (Note that this is not necessary, but included for completeness)

This is to put money aside for the future.  We would recommend putting about $50,000 aside for this Trust.  You do not pay this now.  The Trust will be established with a recognized independent Trust organization.  We would recommend the Trust be set up for 300 years.  The time limitation is important to let the trust meet its objectives.  Should you not be revived before 300 years the funds will go to your charity of choice.  We can discuss this more when we discuss the Trust arrangements.  You also mentioned that you would like your estate upon death to go to the Trust.  We can, with legal assistance, arrange your Will to reflect this.

Cost to Establish Trust: Using the CSA template trust agreement the costs will be from about $5,000 paid in legal and other fees now to set up the trust.  You may veer from the template trust agreement, but the legal costs can start to mount very quickly.  We recommend staying with the standard trust deed, which will be explained to you.

Base amount to put in the Trust:   We recommend life insurance to cover $50,000 to be put in the trust.  Please note this is the current amount so we need to work out what you may need in the future. We will do that in the section on life insurance.

Additional Amount to put in the Trust:   You indicated you would like some or all of your estate funds to go to the trust upon your death.  We will need to have a lawyer make the necessary provisions in your Will.  If there are no complications this will cost less than $500 to change your Will.

Life Insurance

There are many financial vehicles that can be used to finance your future suspension. Because you are at an age that can be insured, we would recommend life insurance at this stage.  The best life insurance for your case would be a fixed annual premium life insurance until death.  Unfortunately it is not readily available in Australia. It is however, available in the USA.

At your current age, the plan would be for you to initially take out Australian life insurance.  If, in the next say three years, you traveled to the US this would be switched to US life insurance.

Stage 1

Australian life insurance for about 3 years.

We would recommend a policy for about $150,000.  Please note that a qualified life insurance broker will make the final assessment.  This would be made up of the following beneficiaries:

The cost of this life insurance policy would be approximately $500 per annum in year one, growing to about $700 per annum in year three.  Please remember these are approximate and do not take into account your specific situation.  A licensed life insurance broker will provide a detailed quote should you move forward with this plan.

Stage 2

During this time period we would discuss and evaluate the benefits of obtaining US life insurance.  You have to visit the US to do this, but you could be a tourist in a hotel.  We would make the arrangements with our contacts in the US.  Because this will be at a fixed premium rate per annum and will apply for your whole life time the recommendation will be for a much higher amount payout to allow for inflation in the costs of the services and other requirements, some of which we already covered and others you may wish to consider, which we will discuss with you.  We would recommend a policy of about US$250,000.   Depending on the age you take out this policy, the premiums will be fixed at about US$2,000 a year(assume age about mid 50’s), but this premium is fixed until end of life and usually it is self funding after age 90.  As a comparison example, if you were taking out Australian life insurance, which increased every year, the premium at about age 80 for a $250,000 pay out policy would be about $35,000 a year and continue to steeply climb every year.

Summary of Costs

CSA is also planning on offering, for a subscription fee of around $200 a year, ongoing advice as your situation changes and a range of other services.  These can be discussed with you if you are interested.

Peter Tsolakides

Cryonics Services Australia Pty Ltd

I am getting close to finishing the standby and transportation processes, which have been drawn heavily from the practical work done by Alcor, CI and the UK cryonics organization.  I have however, restructured the material to be consistent with our setup and requirements in Australia.  The below is a snapshot of part of the manual to give you a feel of the methodical approach I am taking.  You will note that each of the participants has some level of involvement.  There are four key roles however, for handling the standby and the transportation.  These are the Cryonics Coordinator, the Local Non professional, the Local Professional and the Central Professional.

Each will have a carefully defined role and will have the training to perform that role.  I am working on that now.  Please note that some of these services may not be available at all locations.   For example, there may not be a Local Non professional in your area.  The below plan does have secondary coverage for this.

A bigger problem is that you may live in a remote area.  There is no simple coverage for this.  I know this sounds drastic, but I would recommend being in an area that can be better administered.  Talk to CSA about how well your location may be serviced.

“Hey Peter,” you may say to me, “There is an awful lot here to try to remember”.  “How can anyone do all this, especially when they may be ill or be depending on family to get it done?”

You do not have to remember any of this.  If you have made formal pre-arrangements with CSA, all you or your representative need to do is call the CSA Cryonics Coordinator.  Everything will swing into motion.  There may be other groups that may be able to offer this service too.

It’s like everything in cryonics though.  If you leave it all to the last minute, nothing gets done.  You have to have made those pre-arrangements.   CSA’s role is to make all easy.   To do all this there are costs, mainly to the funeral homes, which CSA can assist is explaining how you can provide for these.   I outlined all this in a previous blog on standby/transportation costs.