Make sure as many as possible individual circuits are up to snuff, buy the
same brand panel so your breakers can move from old to new, (respectfully)


I do not recommend this practice. First off 1959 breakers are
probably questionable at this point and would need to be tested before
you could safely reuse them. I'm not referring to anythign elaborate,
I'm referring to a test outlet wired directly into the breaker that
you stick a hair dryer and toaser oven on to see if it trips, etc.

Plus no old panel is going to have the newer types of breakers in it
(GFCI, Arc fault) that you will be needing now so the number you could
potentially reuse is not going to be all that great.