Indeed, the point is that if it means something to you, then you are still alive.   My parents had the kind of collection you are describing, National Geographics, slot head screws, etc., and the point of it all seemed to be to facilitate a sense of optimism based on hope for time and energy to "do something" with all the stuff, implying a future.   The stuff symbolized their future life, and kept them active and eager for each next day.   They both died with active minds.

 

But, when they died and my brother and I had to deal with all the stuff, the public values became clearly different from the private values.   After all the "good stuff" was bought by antique dealers and "useful stuff" was taken by the Sally Ann and Value Village, we filled two giant dumpsters with 8-1/2 tons of stuff for the land-fill dump.  Absolutely nobody would take any of that stuff.   It was shocking to see how much that little salt-box house supported when it was measured by the weigh scale at the city dump.   Most of it was the "project for a rainy day" stuff.

 

My model of good life planning is our old family doctor and his wife who intentionally downsized progressively as they aged and diminished in physical abilities.  They said quite clearly that their "stuff" was their problem and not their children's, and that they were taking responsibility for it at the proper times as their life shifted gears.

 

 

cp in bc