Retirement Gift Ideas for Men and Women

You have to be quick on your feet to keep up with today's retirees. Most of them are out hiking, skiing, playing golf and tennis, taking classes, volunteering and traveling. For the best retirement gifts, look for humorous gifts and unique gifts that cater to this active lifestyle and celebrate the exchange of work responsibilities for more pleasurable pursuits. Read on for tips on buying fun and meaningful retirement gifts.

Buying Retirement Gifts:

1. Go to town. Rather than giving a tangible gift, create a memorable event by throwing a party or taking the retiree out to dinner. For a more personalized gift, gather photos from friends and family of the person who is retiring and use them in an album or collage. Create humorous gifts for a retiree by adding funny captions to photos and including memorable anecdotes.

2. Read into it. Buy a book or a magazine subscription that reflects the retiree's interests. Gourmets always welcome cooking magazines; history buffs will finally have time for a thorough volume on the Civil War. Other retirement gift ideas include books on retirement activities or adjusting to retirement. Humorous books are the perfect funny gifts to create a lighthearted mood.

3. If the shoe fits, wear it. Treat the retiree to new clothes that are fun and appropriate for leisure time. Some casual examples of gifts for retirement include T-shirts, tank tops, tennis shorts, golf caps and ski gloves. A new pair of walking or running shoes can be a perfect symbol for travel, exploration and getting out to see new things. For a retiree who likes funny gifts, buy humorous T-shirts with retirement-related sayings and jokes. Handmade T-shirts are also great personalized retirement gifts. On the practical side, be sure to include a gift receipt, in case the size or style is wrong.

4. Class act. Give the gift of learning something new. Continuing education programs and community colleges offer all kinds of classes, from gardening and bike repair to painting and Spanish. These classes make unique gifts a parent or friend will cherish. If the retiree has mentioned an interest in a special subject, arrange for enrollment in a class for a great retirement gift idea.

5. Home sweet home. Select gifts for retirement the retiree can make good use of at home. When they retire, many people have more time and inclination to do things around the house, so consider giving gardening tools, cooking utensils, sewing or quilting equipment and even items for repairing and washing the car. These are practical rather than exotic, but you can put them in a basket with a bow to make fun, personalized gifts.

6. Just the ticket. Get tickets for an event that interests the person who is retiring for a personalized retirement gift. It can be a play, a concert or a sporting event -- or give tickets to a movie theater, plus a gift card to a nearby restaurant. If money is not an issue, buy a ticket to a far-off destination the recipient has always wanted to visit. A trip to Paris or Tuscany or a safari in East Africa is a retirement gift to remember.