Many retirees will get rid of sentimental items like family heirlooms or other meaningful items. It’s not a bad idea to throw away some duplicate photos or broken pieces that you no longer care about.
But get rid of too much and you may regret it, especially if you made the decision primarily based on your finances.
“Too much time in personal finance is spent on purely financial goals rather than balancing your financial and psychological goals,” Peterson said.
Cutting down on size with only finances in mind can have a big impact on your emotional well-being — especially if it means selling, donating, or throwing away things that bring non-monetary value to your life.
This is also a common problem with retirees who move to a smaller home during retirement.
“When moving to a smaller home, items have to be sorted and edited. Keeping only the selection that fits into the new space means giving up many pieces of furniture that were prized possessions,” said Brenda Scott, owner. clean my placeAnd a professional organizer focused on helping senior citizens.
Scott added, “Many customers feel sad and often angry because it took them a while to save up to purchase the item that was so valuable to them.” “To find out that they bought solid wood furniture for thousands of dollars and when they sell it online they get maybe $50, it hurts their pride and they feel like people are insulting them.”