While funeral planning is not uppermost in their minds, many Americans do give some thought to their eventual demise.

They buy life insurance so that their loved ones can afford to pay for the funeral, they prepare wills, they may even prepare instructions on how they wish to be handled once they're gone. But they and their loved ones could do one thing more that would save a lot of anguish when the time finally comes: research the funeral business and shop around for the best price.

This site is designed to help you do the latter. But there are a whole host of issues that you should learn about before you go comparison shopping when pre planning a funeral. For help with those, you can turn to the Funeral Consumers Alliance.

The FCA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting a consumer's right to choose a meaningful, dignified, affordable funeral. The national umbrella group was formed in 1963 to support the activities of local cooperative groups formed to help consumers get funerals they could afford. These groups, originally known as "memorial societies," date back to the 1930s and are found in 43 of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia. Consumers in areas without local affiliates can contact the national organization for information.

The FCA's website offers informative articles on what to do and what to avoid when planning a funeral, consumer information on the funeral industry, consumer news, discussion boards, a bookstore, and more.

One of the most useful items found on the site is the FCA's funeral planning guide, "Before I Go, You Should Know." The $12 kit is designed for the individual who wishes to help loved ones by planning for their deaths in advance; in addition to the guide, the kit contains living will and advance medical directive forms, directories of local consumer groups, and a checklist of other important documents to keep together so loved ones can find them.

In the spirit of the buying co-ops formed by the earliest memorial societies, many local FCA affiliates offer group discounts on funerals and accessories negotiated with local providers; in addition, the affiliates conduct price surveys of area funeral homes to help consumers shop for the funeral that fulfills both their emotional and fiscal needs.

The FCA can be found online at www.funerals.org.

Written by Sandy Smith