Gift Ideas for a Memorable Retirement

By: Angelique Ellerman
Submitted: 2008-07-24 21:40:45
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When looking for retirement gifts it’s important to find gifts that reflect the individual’s interests, hobbies or favorite pastimes.  Sure plaques and trophies are a nice way to recognize years of excellent service, but those are the kind of gifts that corporations will end up giving.  Gifts are always appreciated more when it’s something that they’ll actually use and that brings joy and relaxation into their lives. 

When someone enters retirement, they suddenly have all this free time on their hands.  Some people already know how they’ll begin enjoying retirement; other’s may take a little more time to adjust and are not quite sure retirement is such a good idea.  Gifts that remind them of a prestigious career for example: teaching, lawyers, executives, doctors, judges, coaches or law enforcement, can often help with the transition and there are lots of unique gifts ideas to choose from that are career orientated.  Getting gifts that help them pursue their interests will also help; if they played golf for example: there are a lot of golfing accessories which can be anything from monogrammed ball markers to a new personalized golf bag or a yardage finder.  Other ideas could be a membership to a golf club, personalized golf balls or even a humorous gift like golfing lessons gives them something to look forward to.  Anther example would be the military:  there are patriotic paperweights, U.S. military rings, watches and other jewelry; they even make patriotic poker sets, beer mugs and throw blankets. 

Gifts can be funny or inspirational too.  There are T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats and pillows available with witty sayings and funny pictures.  Also available are unique doormats, mouse pads and picture frames that have humorous retirement sayings and meaningful poems that will remind them of your friendship.  Encourage them to relax with a comfortable and charming bed rest that enables a person to sit up comfortably while sitting in bed reading or watching TV.  The bed rest also includes handy pockets for magazines and books or the TV remote.  Or inspire them to look to the stars with a new telescope. 

Ideas that are unique are often the most fun for example:  A Day Clock has days of the week instead of numbers, because the person retiring doesn’t have to worry about time anymore, they only have to know what day it is.  Personalized items are very unique and can be anything nowadays.  Items like:  a beer mug, decanter set, deluxe chess set, personalized bar room sign or professional poker chip set.  Other ideas include a day at the spa or salon, passport covers, watch box or valet tray, leather blackberry, ipod or CD case, gift baskets, travel manicure sets, garment bags or even a sit ‘n fish personalized cooler and chair. 

One last idea when looking for retirement gifts is to see if everybody in the office wants to go in on one big gift.  These ideas include:  a small vacation getaway, tickets to a favorite concert or event, membership to a gym or club of choice, a massaging recliner to help them unwind or even shares of stock.  Perfect if they are into the stock market and if not it will not only give them something to do, but may spark a new interest. 

Retirement is a time of celebration for both the past achievements and a bright new future.  If the gift is well though out, no matter if it’s funny or practical, they’ll always remember who the master gift-giver is and appreciate your thoughtfulness.  We all know what it’s like to get gifts that don’t really fit into our lifestyle, so make sure your retirement gift is something that will bring joy, fun and relaxation into their new way of life and your gift will always be cherished.  Happy Shopping :-)

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