By Susan M. Keenan ©2007

Retirement is an exciting time for many people. It’s a big change in the daily routine. Plus, it’s a time to begin doing all of those things that you never seemed to have time to do before now. Quite often, the retiree e receives numerous gifts and has a farewell retirement party or two thrown for him.

For gift givers, the struggle is centred on the dilemma of just what to give to the retire. After all, most people want their gift to be something memorable that stands out among all of the many other retirement gifts that the individual receives.

Money is the easy choice, but there’s nothing memorable there. Speciality baskets filled with food such as cheese, candy, or coffee and cookies can present problems for individuals who have health-related issues. Although a bottle of alcohol or a set of fancy glasses is a nice idea, it only works if the individual happens to indulge every once in a while.

So, what guideline does one use to decide what makes a meaningful, useful, and desirable retirement gift? The task is not as daunting as it might appear at first glance. All it takes is a bit of simple planning and clever investigative research. The first step to planning the perfect retirement gift is simply to discover what it is that they are planning to do with all of their newly received free time.

Brainstorming Tips

Discover what the short-term goals are of the person who is retiring. Converse with close friends, neighbors, or relatives if possible. If that doesn’t appear as a logical choice, have a casual conversation with the retiree.

• See if you can find out what the long-term goals of the individual are using the same methods described above.
• Discover whether the individual intends to continue with their hobbies. If you don’t know what hobbies the person has, try to find out. Also, it’s important to find out whether these are new hobbies as well as how serious the hobbies are.
• Find out what his favourite foods, snacks, movie theatres, museums, and restaurants are.
• Try to discover his cultural heritage and whether he has any fondness for it.
• Learn where his early roots are, where he grew up, and where the places he visited are.

Now that you have all of the information that you need, you can plan the gift accordingly. Some themed gift ideas are included below as starting points. You can always make variations to suit your personal tastes or the needs of the gift recipient.

Themed Gift Ideas

For the grandparent: invest in several attractive photograph albums and journals. Add some colorful writing utensils. Purchase several tickets or an annual membership to a children’s museum or all day park that is located near the individual.

• For the traveller: purchase an annual membership in AAA for the individual. This is a great organization that provides discounted travel arrangements as well as maps and tour books. Purchase a varied collection of regional maps, state maps, or tour guides. Include several travel items along with a roll of quarters, flash light and batteries, and a first aid kit. Place them in a small duffle bag or backpack.that has extra storage pockets.
• For the fisherman: Buy a deluxe tackle box, colourful lures, new outdoor cap, and a few books or DVDs on fishing. You can also purchase other assorted fishing related items such as a fishing vest or chair.
• For the deep sea fisherman: Purchase several books or DVDs on deep sea fishing, some deep sea fishing items, or a ticket for an excursion throughout the fishing season.
• For the retiree with a new part-time career: purchase items that will come in handy on the new job. This is something that is going to vary according to the new career so you will have to troubleshoot this one on your own.
• For the baker: If your retiree is someone who loves to spend time in the kitchen, purchase several upgrades for her as far as kitchen appliances, pans, and utensils go.
• For the gardener: Select a colourful array of new gardening supplies and books. If the season is favourable, you can always purchase several attractive plants or a gift certificate to a local gardening or landscape store. Not only can every gardener use replacement gardening tools after years of use, but also, newer items are always coming on the market. You can also consider purchasing a few attractive flowerpots with a watering can or several outdoor garden accessories such as sundial, weather vane, and thermometer.
• For the person who is going to relocate to a new city or state: Purchase phone cards, stationary, stamps, and writing implements for an easy way for them to keep in touch after relocating to the new area. Plus, a photograph album with memorable photos is also an excellent choice.
• For the computer wizard: Purchase gift certificates to local computer store.
• For a cultural gift: Purchase books, videos, CDs, DVDs, and paintings on the cultural heritage of the individual.
• For a hit or miss type of gift: Purchase a variety of items including the newest best seller, sporting event passes, movie theatre tickets and a box of candy, gift cards to unique stores, the latest DVDs, or a few gourmet food items.

You can use any number of items to place the retirement gift items in including decorative baskets, backpacks, duffle bags, large purses, small suitcases, or decorative bowls. Add a sentimental or funny card and you have the perfect retirement gift.