We are a nation of planners. We plan our finances, we plan our families, and if we're lucky we even plan our retirement. In fact, we plan just about everything -- except our funerals.
What you may not be aware of is that by not planning your funeral, you could mess up the lives of those relatives you're leaving behind.
Therefore, to tackle this issue head on, there's a new book called reasonably enough, "A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don't Plan to Die," published by Light Tree Press. Its goal is to help families avoid emotional and financial disaster.
All-encompassing
The book, by Gail Rubin, sheds light on a dark subject. It covers everything pertaining to death from cremation to caskets, obituaries to obesity, religions to receptions. It illuminates how people can avoid stress at a time of grief, reduce family conflict, save thousands of dollars and create a meaningful, memorable send-off.
Fortunately, "A Good Goodbye" uses gentle humor to convey the vital information about funeral arrangements that most people don't learn about until there's a death in the family. It includes new trends in death care, funeral traditions for major faiths and even a chapter on pet loss and funerals.
Now, a book about funerals probably doesn't seem like the best gift for Christmas, but it could be the most valuable one.
Planning guide
"A Good Goodbye" features a free 10-page downloadable planning form to preserve key information for family members. Valuable event planning guidance, tips, checklists and examples of memorable, meaningful memorial services are also included.
It figures that author Rubin is an event planner specializing in funerals and memorial services.
