11 Gift Ideas for Your Retired Dad and How to Help Him Put His Feet Up and Enjoy the Extra Free Time He Now Has (2019)

Stepping down from a long career after endless moments of hard work is no less a celebration for a man who’s given it his all. It is time to celebrate his accomplishments and welcome new innings into his life, by making him feel special and help him enjoy his life from here on, without worrying about his routine or responsibilities! Most of the men after retirement prefer picking up new interests, travel or explore their close surroundings, and mostly like to be on the move. To make it an enjoyable experience, gifting him things that would ease his travels would be most appropriate, things that could range from personalized shot flask sets which would hold his favourite drinks on the move or a customized pocket watch cum compass, pocket blankets, or portable picnic backpacks. You could also customise travel accessories that could hold his shaving kit, his toiletries and/or organize his tech gadgets, making his travel light.

Being retired need not mean, he’s at the end of enjoying life! He can look forward to new experiences, learning new hobbies and lead his life as a star of his life, keeping abreast of the latest know-hows! Style his essentials, his wardrobe or his surroundings with things that are cool and fashionable in addition to being of use. For instance, a personalized wall bottle opener set to open bottles in style and with minimal effort, a unique foldable valet tray that also doubles up as a charging station for his smart phone, a portable bar accessories kit, a leather watch organizer, a cocktail shaker and more.

With the end of an era, where he was constantly busy dealing with daily challenges, work life balance, and endless responsibilities, he is on the threshold of embarking on a new journey with a new set of adventures, experiences and learning. Make it a worthwhile opportunity for him by enriching his collection of things to have that not only support his requirements but also motivate him to explore! For instance, travel accessories like lightweight sleeping bags, duffel bags, travel pillow with a sleeping mask, ear plugs and a foot hammock, golf trunk organizer which can house his golf gear if he loves playing or is learning how to, and also hold his shoes, food, clothes. Portable massagers for his back or feet would be an added plus for when he gets tired and sore of long outings or travel, multi-purpose chair and cooler that can double up both as a chair and cooler to hold his drinks and snacks.

If you Dad likes exploring new interests and would love fishing, then you’d introduce him to the art of fishing. Perfect for beginners, the Hunting Hobby Complete Fishing Kit includes a telescopic rod made of osprey material of high-quality micro fiber with an open length of 6ft and close length of 3ft. The rod’s casting weight is 30-60g with an Eva stainless steel, ceramic guide seat reel. The kit also includes 3 soft baits with a hook, 12 carbon steel hikes of sizes ranging between 9-20, a stereo form bobber, 5 floats, 5 fishing weight lead wire, a net bag, fish food, a travel bag that can house the fishing rod, reel and accessories of size 21”x7”. The fishing kit is priced at Rs. 1,499. You can pair the fishing kit with a fish bite alarm.

The Field & Stream’s men’s leather strap pocket watch is crafted in a stainless steel case with a light green ultra-luminous dial with black index hands, black Arabic numerals, date display, a leather and steel clip with a lobster claw and push/pull crown with Japanese Quartz movement. This little pocket watch is perfect for camping, traveling, hiking or any other outdoor occasion, which your Dad can use by flipping the watch open to use the compass so he always knows where he’s headed! It is water resistant for 99ft/30m and the case measures 42mm in width, 44mm in length, 12.5mm in thickness. The compass pocket watch is priced at Rs. 3,604.

The 3 player Chess Set is a multi-player game set of 1ft x 1 ft board with hollow pieces of King height-3” with an included velvet storage bag. Also known as 3-Handed, 3-Way or 3-man Chess, this chess set is a part of the family of chess variants which uses a hexagonal or 3 sided board that connect the center cells in a unique way, with the 3 sides segregated by differing colors. The 3 player chess, alters the style of play making it quite challenging. Here, each must think twice as far ahead—anticipating the moves of both opponents, with the added complexity that the next player may move to attack either opponent. Gift your Dad this interesting and challenging chess set priced at Rs. 900.

Introduce your Dad to new ways of enjoying himself with new hobbies and interests. And if he’s not already involved in it, he’d love to explore the art of gardening! The HiYi Garden Tools Set comes with a 3 piece tool set, with soft and contoured handles that are ergonomically designed to reduce hand and wrist fatigue, ideal for activities of digging, weeding, loosening soil, aerating, transplanting and more. The tools come with hangar holes which provide for easy storage, and all of them are rust-resistant with an aluminum head. The set includes a trowel, transplanter and a weeder and it is priced at Rs. 5,369.

If your Dad is an avid reader, he’d obviously have a collection of his favorites lying somewhere. Help him organize his library better with this unique Buddha Bookend that comes with a base, made of resin, measuring 15H x 15W x 20H cm. This lovely pair of bookends features a matt finish with a black MDF base which keeps the books in place, also supporting them. The Buddha in Purple also invites calm and serenity around the immediate surroundings, making it serve a dual purpose of combining your Dad’s favorite pastime with an aura of Spirituality. The bookend is priced at Rs. 1,580.

A perfect gift your Father if he’s a tea/coffee drinker available in white or white with a black handle and rim with a 325ml capacity, this high quality Tea/Coffee Mug can be customized with a unique message etched on the cup for your retired Dad that says, “Retired, under new management, see my wife for details!” The cup is made after a curated process of fusing the ink into the mug using heat which gives a long-lasting print on the cup that’s both dishwasher and microwave safe. Both sides of the mug is printed, unless requested otherwise. It is priced at Rs. 2,028.

The Ranger minimalist RFID block wallet is a compact wallet with a minimalist design that can accommodate 8 cards in addition to currency. It comes with a multi-purpose tool set that are built in, including a bottle opener, SAE wrenches, metric wrenches, a ¼ tool driver and a flathead screw driver. The wallet features a steel body that will protect your Dad’s cards from even the most powerful RFID chip readers and is coated with a premium powder coat finish to ensure extreme durability and corrosion resistance. The wallet measures 3.4 x 2.2 x 0.4 inches and is priced at Rs. 3,268.

One of the most popular voice-controlled speakers with a new improved sound quality and new design, the Echo Dot Smart Speaker can connect to Alexa, a cloud based voice service and play music, answer questions, read the news or check the weather for your Dad. It can stream his favorite music from a selection of music portals/apps, having the songs resonate throughout his immediate space. The best part of this smart speaker is that it works hands-free, picking up a command from across a room with 4 far-field mics despite a noisy environment or while playing music. It can also control compatible smart lights, plugs, remotes by just the voice command and has an inbuilt skill set of almost 15,000. A fun add to your Dad’s everyday essentials. The Echo Dot is priced at Rs. 4,499.

Get him grooving to new adventures and new interests and adorn his travel accessories with this hand stamped dog tag style key ring that’s inscribed with, “what happens in the caravan, stays in the caravan”. This travel key ring is made of aluminum, of a lightweight quality, equally strong and durable, hypoallergenic and will not tarnish or rust. The Key ring is also hand-stamped, where each letter is stamped individually into the metal by a hammer and not really machine-engraved, making it a unique gift item. The Hand stamped key ring is priced at Rs. 1,608.

This Novely Beer Pint Glass will be a great gift for your Dad to celebrate his retired status, which says, ‘Retired! I worked my whole life for this beer’, with a beer glass also engraved on the glass. The 16oz gift beer mug will be no less of a reward for your Dad for all his hard work. It is priced at Rs. 2,238.

Every person who’s been a working professional for a major part of his life looks forward to the day when he’d be free of the hectic pace and lay back and relax to finally enjoy his life the way he always wanted. And when that happens, there are a lot of mixed emotions that meet him. Your Dad may face such moments where he may be happy on one end to be finally free, yet he may be experience sadness on the other end, for suddenly being aimless, being at odds, without his familiar surroundings or people he’s been associated for long. Choosing a gift hence for your retired Dad, should be such that is selected keeping not only his personality or interests in mind, but also the lifestyle he’s led so far or one that he’s looking forward to.