This can be a great conversation starter with your children. I asked my son once how much of my “stuff” he wanted when I was gone. He said not much really. He said, “I’ll keep some of the mementos and some of the tools, but most of it I’m going to donate, give or throw away”.
When my brother’s kids were asked the same question, they said not much, really. Some of the antiques mom has collected, mostly from my grandparents, but not much else:"
My brother and I are baby boomers and our children are millennials. I’ve read Yahoo articles that say pretty much the same thing. In fact, some of the 2nd hand shops are having trouble selling stuff boomers are getting rid of. That’s why I’m going to try and get rid of stuff along the way as I age. It seems you spend the first half of your life collecting stuff and the last half disposing of it.
Clearly, though, getting rid of stuff is difficult for some of us, myself included. Ugh.
My mom doesn’t have much stuff. My grandma did, I was able to get stuff from her and my grandpa. I did loose quite a bit of my grandpas tools in a house fire in 98. My wife has also been picking up Braniff memorabilia for me, that stuff make me think of my grandpa as he worked as an instrument tech until they closed up in the 80’s.
My kids will probably take my tools, there is probably enough to divide it into thirds equally. But really who knows.
Folks did this to me in a way when they moved away - gave me the keys to a storage unit full of their cast-offs (and also the subsequent invoices) which I pared down over a ~year an embarrassingly long period of time.
I’ll probably be doing something similar when they vacate their present house, which has accumulated much stuff. And then there’s dad’s shop (800 ft²) + attached shed (~400ft²) full of woodworking tools and wood stash.
No idea what’s going to happen as I approach the clearing at the end of the path as I’ve no children. Suspect there will be downsizing over time.
It’s a buyer’s market for midcentury modern anything and will be for years to come.
Can relate. Come from a family of packrats.
And my parents seem intent on collecting more of it than they can store.