How Empty is Your Nest?

Are the kids gone yet? Are there rooms in your house that might as well be in a museum?

If so, you might be one of the newly independent adults who are ready to ditch an empty nest and begin a whole new life, buy a houseboat and sail to Grand Cayman, or move to a new house in a Sunbelt state.

Author Cliff Schimmels defines an empty nest this way: "The car in the driveway and the wheels are cold. It's 8 AM and there's still hot water. There's a carton of milk in the refrigerator and it's smaller than a gallon. It's late on a moonlit night and the door to the master bedroom is open."

Is your life like this? Get a better idea.