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Nobody Wants the Family Heirlooms Anymore

Lloyd Alter wrote an insightful article about passing on family heirlooms:

I don’t like clutter. Yet cluttering up my dining room is an old cabinet filled with teacups and dishes that belonged to my late mother-in-law … My daughter was just setting up house, so at least the dining room set and sideboard found a home. But for many people, it's not so easy. Most baby boomers are already established and don’t need more stuff when they inherit it from their parents. Their millennial kids either don’t like it or don’t have a place to put it.

Financial advisor Richard Eisenberg notes that nobody wants the big old stuff anymore. “Dining room tables and chairs, and end tables have become furniture non grata. Antiques are antiquated.” One expert in getting rid of stuff moans about the millennials:

This is an Ikea and Target generation. They live minimally, much more so than the boomers. They don’t have the emotional connection to things that earlier generations did. And they’re more mobile. So, they don’t want a lot of heavy stuff dragging down a move across country for a new opportunity.

Eisenberg concludes with this tip: Prepare for disappointment. Tastes and the people think about stuff has changed. With today’s disposable culture, it's cheaper to buy a sofa from IKEA than it is to hire a truck for grandma’s giant sofa. An antique dealer said, “I don’t think there is a future for the possessions of our parents’ generation. It’s a different world.”

Possible Preaching Angles:

Example; Faith; Heritage; Parenting – Millennials and Gen Z may not want the furniture, china, and keepsakes of their parents. However, one thing that parents should make sure they pass on is the heritage of their faith in God.

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