As human beings, we all like to feel loved and needed, whether at work or in our private lives, so when faced with one of life’s most significant turning points – our last day at work – this can be a very emotional affair.
Most likely, we are going to celebrate to mark this once in a lifetime occasion with those closest to us. Maybe, however, we are not actually feeling all that unconcerned about what is yet to come, especially if we have not mapped out any concrete post-working life plans.
Up until this day, we were tied to our our usual routine of going to work, we were used to seeing the same people – colleagues, clients, business partner – on a regular basis, and we were deeply involved in the company, the business and life as a working adult.
In the light of this, it seems more than natural to have ambiguous feelings: the end of one very important era in our live but also the start of something new and exciting.
The question is how can those close to the future retiree make the transition from working to enjoying life a little easier? A gift is a great way to convey a very personal message to mark this special occasion.
Remember that gifts are more about us and our relationship with the other person than about the gift itself. To come up with some great and personal retirement gift ideas, we need to think about which message we would like to send: “Happy Retirement – enjoy your new-found freedom!“ or “You are very important to me and life’s about more than work – you are valuable as a person, not just as an employee” are just some of the things we might like to say. If it is a colleague or our boss who is about to retire, the message might be something like “You have been a great asset and I want to thank you for your support and friendship.”
Whether we decide on a forward-looking, positive-spirited message to celebrate the new beginning or on a backward-looking appreciative note will help us choose a suitable gift: something relating to a hobby or particular interest always works, or maybe something more light-hearted: a fun book about what to do with all that free time as a retiree.
A word of caution with regards to fun or gag retirement gifts: if we are unsure about the retiree’s feelings, it is best to avoid anything too jokey – it might be like rubbing salt into his or her wounds.