It all boils down to this... there are no hard, quantitative, empirical bodies of evidence to support ANY side of this debate. All we have is hearsay and stories. A lot of hopes and fears surround the topic of death, and it is indeed comforting to think that it is not the be-all-and-end-all. To some, having the belief that there "must be something else" afterwards makes death a much more tame prospect. The idea of "nothingness" scares most people, and rightly so, given that we are aware of our own mortality and existence... our instinct for survival.
If there is reason to believe that something else exists beyond your own personal demise, then why not ask someone who has passed on to explain what happens afterwards, etc, etc, etc...
Remember that we are all made of atoms, though. So maybe there is something else afterwards... your constituent atoms (the hydrogen anyway) has been around since the beginning of the universe as we currently understand it. They will be around after you die. They may become part of a tree, or a shoe, or any other conceivable type of object.
Conversly, some of the atoms that currently make you up could have been part of Napoleon, or part of a dog poo, etc, etc. They were, after all, originally synthesized within the stars, but that is too far of topic here.
What we are looking for here though is evidence of sentience beyond our lives. I'm afraid this has, in my opinion, been entirely undemonstrated.
We all have cherished beliefs, but to my knowledge there has only been one tool cultivated by humanity that has been the true wayfarer on the road to truth, and that is science. Used correctly, this tool can be our greatest ally. Used incorrectly, irresponsibly, or quoted out of context, it can mislead and perhaps destroy us.
There is room in this world for all beliefs, on faith or otherwise. However, and this is just my opinion, I would rather have the cold, hard facts than succumb to insubstantiation.
Now, if a body of good evidence came to light demonstrating that there is some sort of cogniscent activity beyond your life, then we can use science as a tool to study it. That is why science has succeeded in every field that has tasked it. Done correctly, it is impersonal and self correcting. The impersonal part of science may not be altogether to our liking, but the universe is not required to conform to the aspirations and ambitions of humans.
People who say to me "how can you live without believing in xyz..." and that my spirit is sterile. To them I reply that there are untold wonders in the field of science, stranger than even the most fanciful fiction. This is what makes my "spirit" soar!
In conclusion, I also believe, given the evidence, that although the universe goes on after you die, you are not aware of it. In fact, you are not aware of anything anymore. No matter how upset I may be at this dismal conclusion (and I am) and no matter how much I want to belive that I will go on somehow, I have to accept that there is a finallity to my own personal existence in my current configuration. I take solice though, that my consituent parts (atoms) will be around for time immemorial!
I do not pretend to know anything about death, but one day, for the briefest instant, I most certainly will. That is for sure. The problem is that I don't think it would be possible to impart the description of the experience in any meaningful way before I passed into oblivion, or impart any other information thereafter.
All the more reason to make your life count for something every day!