Plus, Jim, let's consider if "the next level" is even attainable when we get into that "of a certain age" category. I USED to be one badazz, well sought after musician in the area. I played keyboards, sax, and guitar, and I sang extremely accurate harmonies, and I could sing front on certain songs.

However, that was half my life ago.

Now, I can't really hold a guitar neck without ridiculous amounts of pain. My brain doesn't move my fingers like they used to. As out of shape as I am, I have no wind to play the sax anywhere near as well as I used to. And if you don't use your "voice muscles", they get soft like biceps and abs do, and I can barely sing.

So once we reach that point, and accept that we have reached that point (denial puts up a good fight), it then comes down to whether you want to have a bunch of stuff you can't/don't/won't use anymore or turn it into cash (and accepting the financial loss that comes with selling used gear) to use for other things.

I can still play keyboards reasonably well, but now I let the equipment do a lot of the work. Stacking sounds together thanks to MIDI and better equipment of the time means I can sound big with one hand instead of two. That's why the guitars are being sold off. None of them are high end, and the three that are higher end are willed to people. As I said in another post, most of my stuff is specified in a codicil to my will to be given to specific people when I croak.

Also consider this. As far as holding on to gear and holding out for a specific price, by our age is there a big difference between $500 and $450? Are we all still stuck on the depression mentality of becoming the richest corpse in the graveyard? As always the disclaimer is that I can only speak for me but it gives me more pleasure to know an instrument is in hands of someone who uses it than seeing it sit in my studio. Knowing that my stuff will go to people rather than be sold for 10 bucks at a probate ordered estate sale. But again, that's me. I have watched too many people work like animals to pile up money that was taken by the state when they died. My house, my car, and my music gear are all set up in a way that they bypass probate when I die. (I will put in the asterisks here so the system didn't have to.) **** the state. I gave them all they are going to get when I worked.

I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.

1. How much did you make in 2023?
2. Send it to us.