Hard to decide

[BillsWife1]

Here's a thought from another side...

Earlier in 2018 I lost an Aunt that never married and never had kids. My husband and I were her primary care givers and took care of her estate. It was, as with all deaths, quite difficult. We donated everything we could and threw the rest away.

As my husband and I stood at the dumpster pitching the last of her belongings it hit me...Life comes down to a trip to your favorite charity and a dumpster run.

My husband and I have already given away or sold all of our "stuff". We will not burden our kids with the task of sorting through piles of crap that means nothing to them. Anything they would inherit has already been passed on to them and we take pleasure in seeing them enjoy those things.

Having said that...perhaps a 6 month to year trial period of living aboard before getting rid of your house and stuff may be in order, in case you change your mind.

[Cheechako]

I have some relative's possessions that I keep. Some are over 100 years old. I think it's nice to have these things around, tell the story to kids and grandkids. It forces you to think about past people, and wonder what the situation was etc.

[BillsWife1]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I have some relative's possessions that I keep. Some are over 100 years old. I think it's nice to have these things around, tell the story to kids and grandkids. It forces you to think about past people, and wonder what the situation was etc.

Very true. However in our case, since we are living on a 44' cat it's not practical to keep those things with us at this point in our lives. And they certainly serve no one being locked away in a storage unit. So we passed them on to our adult children...where they would end up after our deaths anyway. They are now the family historians.

In my case there is not a single day that passes when I don't think of my Dad, who passed in 2013 with my husband and I by his side. I have his hammer in my tool box, but all of the other keepsakes reside with our kids. We are all a little different in what makes us tick. For me it's never been about objects. It's always been about experiences. I do have several multi terabyte hard drives with photos organized into specific folders. Those photos are probably one my most prized possessions.

Hopefully our grandchildren (and great nieces and nephews) will remember when they spent a month each summer break with us on the boat learning to sail and snorkel in some far flung destination.