Trump offers golden graves for silver-spoon set
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — They say you can't take it with you when you die, but that's not necessarily true for the wealthiest Americans — like Donald Trump.
He announced this week he is considering building a 1.5-acre cemetery next to his high-end golf course in Bedminster, where members pay a lifetime fee of as much as $300,000. If they want to stay beyond that, they most likely will pay a membership fee that includes burial.
It may be among the pricier final resting places, but if it gets state and local approval, it'd be a bargain compared with some of the country's other swank cemeteries.
Putting one's name on the most permanent of marquees can reach several million dollars at the most exclusive cemeteries — a far cry from the median $6,560 for a funeral in 2009, the most recent yearly figure from the National Funeral Directors Association.
At Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass., a National Historic Landmark renowned for its landscaping, the choicest piece of pond-front property costs upward of half a million dollars, said Sean O'Regan, vice president of cemetery services and operations.