Retirement is a major life achievement that calls for a thoughtful and meaningful gift to mark the occasion. Whether you’re celebrating a colleague, friend, or family member, finding the perfect gift can be a special way to honor their hard work and dedication.
In this guide, you’ll discover some of the best retirement gift ideas, with options to suit every retiree’s personality and lifestyle. And if you’re still looking for more inspiration, we’ve included additional guides at the end of the post to help you find exactly what you need!
Collaborative Retirement Memory Book
For a nostalgic and meaningful gift they can display, show off and enjoy for years to come, a collaborative retirement memory book is perfect! Newlywords makes collaboration easy by helping with the process of gathering photos, memories, notes and more from people to put together in a book. You can order a hardcover book or a PDF for sharing electronically.
To learn more, check out our guide on how to make a memory book for a coworker’s retirement.
Personalized Luggage
For the retiree who plans to travel, high quality, personalized luggage is an amazing gift they can use for years to come and easily recognize in airports! ROAM makes build-your-own high quality luggage so you can truly make an original look for the retiree.
Check out our guide for more retirement gifts for travelers here.
Fitness Tracker Watch
There are multiple kinds of fitness tracker watches out there, and these are a great gift for anyone who likes to workout, wants to get in shape or who just wants to track their steps, sleep and more. The Amazfit GTR 4 is one of the best on the market right now and makes a fabulous gift!
Artisan Gift Box
You can get an artisan gift box that fits any type of interest, personality and taste with a company like Marigold & Grey, who have a selection of Retirement Gift Boxes. They have themed boxes for things like golf, movie nights, women, men, alcoholic beverages, relaxation, cooking and more.
Personalized Wine and Whiskey Set
Everything Etched has an engraved wine and whiskey glass set that makes a classy gift for wine and whiskey lovers to commemorate this momentous occasion. Every time they sip from these glasses, they’ll think of you!
Spa Gift Card
Retirement is the best excuse to relax and recharge, and what’s better for that than a spa gift card? SpaFinder has gift cards for any location so you can find a good one near the retiree, including their favorites!
Charger Docking Station
Gift the retiree an everything docking station that charges their gadgets plus more features, like The Sidekick from Holme and Hadfield that they call a “tiny desk”; it has a small pull-out drawer, a watch holder and more spaces to keep all their small things!
Masterclass
You can gift the retiree a Masterclass with something they’re interested in learning so they can have a new hobby, or something they already love that they now have time to get better at. You can choose subjects like writing, art, cooking and pretty much anything you can think of!
Coffee or Tea Subscription
For the coffee or tea-obsessed retiree, a subscription to interesting and flavorful blends will be greatly appreciated for sure! Atlas Coffee Club has coffee beans from around the world that get delivered to their door for people who love coffee and travel; Uncommon Goods has a National Park Tea Sampler that you can gift National Park and tea lovers!
Self-Heating Mug
NextMug has self-heating coffee mugs for at home and travel that you can set to your desired temperature for hours on end, and that keep drinks warm for hours. Anyone who loves sipping hot drinks will love using this gift daily.
Book Subscription Box
For the avid readers, you can gift them a book of the month subscription so they’re never without a good read in retirement. The best part is that they get to choose from a selection of 5-7 books each month, so they get to have some say in what they’re interested in reading.
Aesthetic Record Player
For the music lovers, gift them a record player that will get “wows” from anyone who visits! An example is this Vintage Mid Century Modern Record Player that displays the record vertically to showcase their favorite records.
Gardening Set
If the retiree is a gardener or plans to become one in retirement, a really good gardening set is a necessity. A great option is the Ultimate Garden Tool Set from Barebones.
Indoor Golf Putting Green
If they already love golf, an indoor putting green to have at home will give them entertainment and a way to continue their hobby even on the rainiest days – not to mention, a reason to stand up and move around!
US National Parks Passport
There are a variety of US National Parks Passports to choose from for those who plan to check these off their bucket lists including the Classic Edition, Collector’s Edition and more, so you can find one they’ll love to bring with them and get stamped at each park.
Trekking Poles
For the hikers and travelers, a set of quality trekking poles is a must for having stability on all kinds of terrain. REI Co-op has an affordable set that easily strap to a backpack and have comfortable foam grips.
Camera
Whether they’re photographing grandkids, travels or flowers, gifting a quality and easy-to-use camera is a great idea for retirees! Anything from an Instant camera, like the Fujifilm Instax, to a Point-and-shoot like the Canon Powershot can be used and appreciated.
Binoculars
Binoculars are great for bird watching, stargazing and travels. The Canon 10x42L IS WP binoculars are some of the best on the market right now, so they’ll be able to see things clearly even at a far distance!
Vodka Making Kit
For those who love a good cocktail with vodka, they can take on a new hobby making their own in retirement (and you can invite yourself over to try their concoctions)! Craftly has a DIY Vodka Infusion Kit to make botanically-infused vodka creations.
Kindle Scribe
The new Kindle Scribe goes beyond just reading and lets you write on it like paper, too! This is a great way for retirees to take their books and a notebook with them anywhere for lightweight, easy access.
US National Parks Scratch Off Bucket List
For the retiree who’s on the go to visit US National Parks, a scratch-off bucket list poster is a fun way to keep track and show off the ones they’ve visited.
Tickets to An Event or Performance
You can buy the retiree tickets to a specific event or performance, or gift them a Ticketmaster gift card so they can choose their own! This is great for anyone who loves going to in-person shows and events.
Digital Photo Frame
Digital photo frames are an amazing gift for retirees because they can change out and add to the photos and have an ongoing slideshow at all times! They can even give the memory card to their kids to put photos of the grandkids on, or add their own travel photos and more. Aura Frames makes some of the best digital frames.
Retirement Newspaper Print
A quirky and fun gift is a personalized retirement newspaper print, all about the retiree, that they can frame and display at home to show off!
More Retirement Gift Ideas to Check Out
We’ve curated retirement ideas that are even more specific for various careers, relationships and more, so if you’re still looking for that perfect idea, you can keep reading:
Funny retirement gifts for coworkers
Retirement gifts for your boss
Firefighter retirement gift ideas
More Retirement Guides
To learn what to write for retirement wishes and how to plan the perfect retirement party, check out these guides:
Retirement wishes for your boss
Retirement wishes for a colleague