I actually approach the game as a story telling engine. I have done some writing and know how to build a story arc. I use my own imagination plus the gameplay to create the story. So, for me, a household ends when their story arc concludes. That doesn’t necessarily mean death, though, so I can play with aging off.
For example, my last game before the current one was about a musician who went into the witness protection program after witnessing a murder, He was living in an underground bunker with two FBI agents. I played their skills and relationships out with the game as I developed the story arc in my mind. When the mob guy got caught and the musician was able to resume his career, the game was over for that save.
My current save has more longevity, because, as the original arc was ending, it moved from a single character’s story to a world story that includes that character. That has a lot more scope and variety of play and a lot of potential story arcs.
