Leaving unfinished projects for your heirs to clean up!

[Harold]

I'm 86, my wife is 71--I'm on the last of my 10 British cars that I have owned/driven/restored over the past 40 years or so--My last one is a
1955 Nash Metropolitan --the last of 4 that i have restored, and passed on)--It's ready to go (?)--drive it around the block, and list it on ebay.
How much time do I have to start on another project car?: Each of the restorations took 3 years or so--even though I might have 2 going on at the
same time. I find myself looking at Ebay, craigslist , etc------- 2 of the Nash Metropolitans I bought were estate sales--and the heirs of the owners didn't
want to deal with them. So it would be unfair to leave my wife with an unfinished project. --what to do?--I can't just sit around looking at Cat Videos!

 

[LarryK]

I am 70, I have two Land Rovers, two newer MINIs, two MK1 Jags, Valiant, a bass boat, and an RV and a 100+ yr old house. All the newer cars need maintenance (oil and etc.), the Jags and Valiant are restore projects, RV is a running fix (rt front caliper stuck), the boat's gas went bad and carbs need rebuild, the house is neverending. Wife asked my about what will be left if something happens. I just said everything if you don't give me time to do it. Getting more time now.

 

[DrEntropy]

On the seventy-first orbit here, two Lotus Elans needing full frame-off restorations. Plus a house needing a new roof, an MGB mostly ready to go and now I find we've subterranean termites chewing through a laundry room constructed a few years after the place had been treated for the beasties...

Fifty years of Lotus and MG bits-n-pieces in the garage, multiple Weber heads, blocks, ancillary parts. Alfa Romeo bits like 1300, 1600, 1750 and 2.0L engines, so much as to be overwhelming if thought about. Three generations of tools, from screwdrivers to micrometers. Other life long collections of "stuff" like full commercial darkroom equipment, film era Nikon gear that earned my living for several decades and costing more than my house. If it happens that "The Big One" hits, I won't care much about any of it. Th' 'mits has a good idea of the worth of things, whether she takes advantage of it or it goes to the dreaded Estate Sale will be her decision.

Meanwhile, all I can think is to carry on regardless. "Que Sera, Sera."

 

[DrEntropy]

Oh, and:


RUTABAGA!!

 

[Popeye]

I'd say go for the next car. If you tire of the car before it's finished, make arrangements to donate it to the local British car club - I'm sure it'll have a taker.

We're only here once. If you sit around watch the cats, you'll go nuts.

 

[PC]

I'm 86, my wife is 71--I'm on the last of my 10 British cars that I have owned/driven/restored over the past 40 years or so--My last one is a
1955 Nash Metropolitan --the last of 4 that i have restored, and passed on)--It's ready to go (?)--drive it around the block, and list it on ebay.
How much time do I have to start on another project car?: Each of the restorations took 3 years or so--even though I might have 2 going on at the
same time. I find myself looking at Ebay, craigslist , etc------- 2 of the Nash Metropolitans I bought were estate sales--and the heirs of the owners didn't
want to deal with them. So it would be unfair to leave my wife with an unfinished project. --what to do?--I can't just sit around looking at Cat Videos!

Harold, two questions: What’s the point? And who cares?

I don’t ask those questions flippantly or nihilistically. I ask them literally. What is the point? If the point of a project is to invest a bunch of money/time/energy in hopes of some future monetary payoff, you get one collection of answers. If the point is to enjoy yourself and be excited about getting up every morning to seize the day, you get an entirely different set of answers.

And who cares? Why do they care? What makes it something to care/not care about? Is your wife the sort of person who’d be overwhelmed if she were left with the keys to an unfinished project? Or is she the type who’d happily toss the keys to somebody else and move on? Is there anybody she could toss those keys to? Is there a way to arrange everything so that she doesn’t have to worry about dealing with it?

... the dreaded Estate Sale .....

Is it to be dreaded? Or is it to be celebrated? If your stuff helped you find enjoyment and fulfillment in your life isn’t it a good thing? Isn't that good enough? If it gets recycled into the lives of others, isn't that also a good thing?

If something has a huge cost at the time of its usage but then becomes antiquated and destined for scrap, isn’t the important thing the use you got out of it at the time? Nobody buys a nice meal, a night at the movies, or a vacation trip and worries what it will be worth tomorrow. Why should a physical object be any different? If somebody does find use for it after you, isn’t that just an additional benefit to the world and not any sort of loss to you?

I was recently contacted by a friend who asked if I’d look over some vintage hi-fi gear. Turns out his wife and BIL have started a business to disposition people’s stuff. They consolidate what needs to be kept, toss what needs to be trashed and sell what can be sold.

I met them at a client’s house yesterday. The client had been an avid music fan and audiophile. The gentleman had to move to a retirement facility and had no family in the area. He had a house full of stuff plus a shed and three storage units. His nephew contracted them to deal with his uncle’s stuff. They had most everything under control and just needed a little help with the A/V gear.

Anyway, the guy had a lifetime’s worth of stuff to disposition. It’s not doing him any good anymore, but what does that matter? He enjoyed it while he could. And enjoy it he did. It did its job and provided its value.

Any residual value it may have is only that value it can bring to somebody. Only now it will be somebody else. And if there is no more value to be found in it, that’s OK too.

 

[LarryK]

I will have my vehicles auctioned and monies donated to charity, relatives don't deserve my cars.

 

[70herald]

Well here are my thoughts as a "youngster" I had two grandparents make it past 95 and 1 reached 101. They were all active up till the very end. So even if they were a bit slower than you they could have done at least 2 more... (give them 5 years per car)
Seems to me the best way to keep yourself healthy and active is to be doing something you enjoy and want to do... unless of course you really just are looking for justification to sit around and watch cat videos ‍

 

[vette]

Different scenarios can play out. The easiest for u is just get to it and dont worry about it.
2. Again get to it and let her bring in an auction company when the time comes, are you doing to recoup the money or just get rid of it.
3. Make a list with approximate valuation of the items. It doesn’t have to be perfectly up to date. This will give her an idea of what to get for the stuff.
4. Maybe there is a friend or relative that would help with the liquidation? In which case the list will be central.
If u really feel like doing it, ya gotta do it. Or you could go fishing. But then she’d have all that fishing stuff to liquidate.

 

[Grantura_MKI]

Ok, I am depressed now......

 

[Basil]

A simple solution. Don't die

 

[LarryK]

That's possible with the world at 100% mortality rate.