Retirement Gifts

Retirement gifts are generally given by the management of an organization to a retiree as a token of appreciation for their services. Retirement gifts always make a retiree feel very special. Crystal glass gifts have always been popular retirement gifts. Many organizations give exquisite crystal glass items to their employees. These gift items include crystal glass clocks, crystal glass globe and crystal glass vases. Animal figures made of crystal and mounted on wooden platform also make unique gifts.

Generally, colleagues and friends also give retirement gifts to the retiree during a farewell party. These gifts signify the feelings of respect and affection they have for that retiree. Gift baskets such as sweet baskets, tea and coffee baskets or fruit baskets can be a very good option. Personalized mementos that have the name of the retiree carved or embossed on it can also be presented to retirees. They are usually less expensive and easily available. Personalized crystal glass bowls and vases are a great alternative for trophies.

Figurines, coasters, and photo frames can be great impersonal gifts for a colleague or an employee. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be made from various materials. Retirement gifts can also include a variety of brass articles such as brass figurines, brass desk clocks, and brass showpieces.

Close friends and family can gift a travel voucher to the retiree. This provides an opportunity for them to go away on a relaxing vacation. They can also give a gift voucher of a departmental store or a bookshop so that the retirees can purchase a gift of their choice. A good retirement joke book can also be a great gift for a dear friend who has just retired.

A wide range of retirement gifts is available on the Internet. Individuals have the choice of going through the product catalogue to understand the specifications and the price range of that particular gift. Individuals can place an order for a particular item online by specifying the product code.

Retirement provides detailed information on Retirement, Retirement Plans, Retirement Communities, Individual Retirement Accounts and more. Retirement is affiliated with Retirement Financial Planning .

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Stith

WHAT SOON-TO-BE-RETIRED INDIVIDUALS DON'T KNOW ABOUT WHAT MAKES PEOPLE HAPPY IN RETIREMENT CAN GREATLY HURT THEM AFTER THEY RETIRE!

Retirement is a double-edged sword. Retirees either make retirement work - or it cuts their happiness in half. The more people know about the secrets to a successful retirement, the happier they will be once they retire.

Companies such as The Syncrude Corporation in Fort McMurray, Alberta; Nettworth Financial in Atlanta, Georgia; Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Illinois; and Allstate Financial in North Brook, Illinois, have purchased thousand of copies of Promotional Giveaway Copies of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free as a retirement gift to give to clients and retiring employees.

That's why anyone about to retire needs The World's Best Retirement Book by Ernie Zelinski as one of their retirement gifts.

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor is a provocative, entertaining, down-to-earth, and tremendously inspiring retirement gift that will help anyone get more joy and satisfaction out of all their retirement activities.

Although turned down by over 35 publishers, THE WORLD'S BEST RETIREMENT BOOK has already sold over 125,000 copies and has been published in 7 foreign languages since it was released by Ten Speed Press in Berkeley, California.

What's more, go to www.Amazon.com and type "retirement" into the search feature. You will see that How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free appears in the number 1 position - out of over 14,000 listings for retirement books!

This should be evidence enough that this is the perfect retirement gift.



Purchase How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free by Ernie
Zelinski on BarnesandNoble.com with this direct link:

HOW TO RETIRE HAPPY, WILD, AND FREE on BarnesandNoble

Purchase How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free by Ernie Zelinski on Amazon.com with this direct link:

HOW TO RETIRE HAPPY, WILD, AND FREE on Amazon.com

Retirement gifts are presented to an employee or employer by his or her boss, co-workers, or colleagues during the send off or farewell party. The gifts demonstrate that the employee or employer is appreciated and respected for the years of dedicated hard work she has put in. Retirement gifts can range from anything like travel vouchers to gourmet baskets and they can be as inexpensive or luxurious as you choose.

Travel vouchers are available at your nearest travel agent, and a relaxing trip for two to the mountains or seaside is something the recently retired employee or boss will cherish. They can be simple weekend getaways to a nearby nature camp, or a few days stay in a summer resort.

Gift baskets are another popular option. AllOccasionBaskets.com retails Sweet and Savory Baskets, which have the best quality apples, pears, almonds, cheese and crackers, costing $105. Fruit baskets from the same website contain farm fresh fruits like apples, pears, and cherries, retailing for a little more than $90. Coffee and Tea Baskets are also popular. A Coffee basket from AllOccasion retails for a little more than $50, and has two kinds of creamers, chocolate stir spoons, as well as tea cookies and bonbons.

Chocolat.com has the one of the best chocolate gift baskets, the Luxury Chocolat Retirement Gift line is one of the most popular on the site. These are personalized mahogany boxes fitted with brass plates engraved with the recipient's name and a message. The box contains handcrafted French chocolates, and makes a good retirement gift.

Personalized mementos are also a good option. A memento embossed or carved with the recipient's name, date of joining and retirement, are the most popular retirement gift options. These are inexpensive, and retailed by many websites specializing in customizing gifts.

Apart from these, china gift sets, photo albums with handmade covers, commemoration mugs also make the recipient feel appreciated.

A well chosen retirement gift will hold good memories for a woman, and also have a sentimental value.

Gifts for Women provides detailed information about gifts for women, birthday gifts for women, Christmas gifts for women, and more. Gifts for Women is affiliated with Holiday Gift Baskets.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ken_Marlborough

The Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked by Ernie Zelinski

The Joy of Not Working is all about learning to live every part of life - employment, unemployment, retirement, and leisure time alike - to the fullest. This book will help any retiree to join the millions of converts who now thrive at retirement - because they received The Joy of Not Working as a retirement gift. Illustrated by eye-opening exercises, thought-provoking diagrams, and lively cartoons and quotations, The Joy of Not Working will guide anyone to enjoy life like never before.

Top 10 Reasons to Buy The Joy of Not Working as One of Several Retirement Gifts for Any Retiree

1. This is the perfect retirement gift for anyone who is more independent and more creative than most people.

2. This is the perfect retirement gift for anyone who was born a lover of life and not a workaholic.

3. This is the perfect retirement gift for anyone who doesn't want the cheese; he or she just wants to get out of the trap.

4. This is the perfect retirement gift for anyone who likes books that are reader friendly with lots of cartoons, quotations, and exercises.

5. This is the perfect humorous retirement gift for anyone who likes books that make them smile and challenge traditional ways of living and thinking.

6. This is one of those perfect retirement gifts for anyone who agrees with the words of Bertrand Russell: "To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the best product of civilization."

7. This is one of those unique retirement gifts for anyone who is receptive to the concept that we can achieve more if we relax, enjoy life more, forget about what the majority in society thinks is important, and focus on the things that really matter.

8. This is the perfect retirement gift for anyone who believes that their parents and co-workers will not approve of their adopting this book as their lifestyle Bible.

9. You know a good deal when you see one - if a retirement gift book has been published in 17 languages in 21 different countries and has sold over 250,000 copies, it must have great value as a unique and humorous retirement gift!

10. This is the perfect retirement gift for anyone who knows that the secret to a happy and fulfilling life is to work as hard as necessary for a comfortable life and as little as possible.

Purchase The Joy of Not Working as the perfect retirement party gift on Amazon.com with this direct link:

The Joy of Not Working on Amazon.com

Martha Felt-Barton of Salt Lake, Utah was 35 in 1995 when she founded The Martha Felt Group, an advertising and public relations firm. After coming home at 7 p.m. for several years, and still having to do "homework" each night, she concluded that enough was enough. Thus, she sold her firm in January, 1999.

Now 42, she devotes a lot more time to her husband, Michael, and her two children, Connor, 10, and Annie, 14. Recently, the whole family vacationed in Turkey for 18 days. She also works out, plays basketball in the backyard, takes art classes, and is involved in community work.

Above all, Felt-Barton is a lot more relaxed than she was when she was working. Indeed, her two children think she is less uptight and a much nicer person than she used to be. In 2002, Felt-Barton told a USA TODAY reporter, "There are so many other interesting ways to spend your time. I feel like this is a gift, but it's such an incredible gift. It's a gift I need to use."

The Best Retirement Book in the World That Makes the Best Retirement Gift That You Can Give Yourself!

O ver 125,000 Copies Sold

P ublished in 8 Foreign Languages

Purchase How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free by Ernie Zelinski
on BarnesandNoble.com with this direct link:

HOW TO RETIRE HAPPY, WILD, AND FREE on BarnesandNoble

Perhaps someday some historian will confirm that I coined the term
"the bastard rich" to describe the millions of apparently wealthy
individuals in North America today. You only have to refer to the
dictionary to understand what I mean by the term. One definition of
bastard is: "Resembling a known kind or species, but not truly such."
Another one is: "Something that is irregular, inferior, or of dubious
origin." To put it succinctly, the bastard rich are people who display
wealth that is much less than first meets the eye.

Texans have a saying, "Big hat, no cattle," to describe their bastard
rich. Few wealthy Texans wear big hats; many poor ones do. In Texas
and elsewhere, people don't need a big hat and no cattle to be upstanding
members of the bastard rich. They are everywhere, even residing in
exclusive areas such as Reston, VA; Rockville, MA; Bel Air, CA; and
Greenwich, CT. You will see them tooling around town in Mercedes,
Porches, BMWs, and Lexuses. Cartier and Rolex are what they wear on
their wrists, more to impress people than to tell time. To work they
wear Hugo Boss, Chanel, Armani, Versace, or Savile Row. The bastard
rich have never encountered a trendy and expensive consumer product
that they didn't want to buy. Their motto is, "I wear Armani and a
Cartier, therefore I am."

"To be sure, "Big hat, no cattle," best describes most of today's
"nouveau riche." These people display wealth, but a large majority
aren't that wealthy. Some of the nouveau riche have high incomes and
others don't. Even if they have high incomes, it is unlikely that
their wealth is that impressive. A high income and substantial wealth are two different matters altogether.

A casual observer from another planet may confuse the two.
Wealth has nothing to do with income. Many people with high incomes
have no wealth and many people with modest incomes have impressive
wealth. The bastard rich with good incomes may look affluent, but
they are spending it all. They look affluent because they dress like
the affluent, eat in expensive restaurants that cater to the affluent,
drive the automobiles of the affluent, and live in areas where the
affluent are supposed to live. Living high off the hog means they
aren't getting any wealthier. In fact, those spending more than they
earn are experiencing decreasing wealth.

The bastard rich are wasteful people and wasteful people seldom get
wealthy. Earning more money is actually easier for them than saving
even a small fraction of it. Being compulsive spenders, they purchase
things they don't need - in many cases with money they don't have.
Today's pleasures are purchased with tomorrow's cash because today's
cash is being used to pay for yesterday's pleasures. Early retirement
or a taking a sabbatical today is out of the question because these
lifestyles involve having today's pleasures purchased with yesterday's
cash.

Real richness is in how you spend your money.
- Jacques Lipchitz

An empty head leads to an empty pocket.
- B.C. Forbes

Instant Gratification Takes Too Long for Today's Nouveau Riche

Psychological factors drive the bastard rich into their irrational spending patterns. Unless they confront their underlying emotional needs - which have to be addressed in other ways - their irrational spending habits will continue. No strangers to neurotic tendencies, many of the bastard rich have lost complete touch with reality. They don't know who they are and have decided to be their possessions. Many of the things which the bastard rich dream of owning aren't desired primarily for the enjoyment they would get out of them. They fantasize about owning the biggest and the best of everything, so that they can show them off to their friends and neighbors. If they couldn't show them off, the possessions would be a total waste.

For the bastard rich, the quest to own the latest consumer goods is often a quest for social position and status. Conspicuous consumption, whether it's the latest Armani suit, the most expensive Nikes, a flashy Ferrari, a Bel Air mansion, summers on the Riviera, or dining at the newest trendy restaurant, is a way to flaunt one's wealth - either real or apparent - in an attempt to gain the esteem of others, or to prove one's superiority and power over others. Gaining the awe, respect, esteem, and envy of others often constitutes more of the fantasy for the bastard rich than acquiring the possessions. The more expensive things they have, the stronger they feel, the more confident they feel, and more respected they feel.

Trying to keep up with members of the bastard rich is not worthy of your time and effort. By their very nature, these people don't uphold values that can be that satisfying. To children, the bastard rich aren't exactly the greatest role models on how to handle money. The way I see it, why try to keep up with a bunch of phonies? If you are going to keep up with anyone, go for the real thing. You have two options.

One option is to keep up with the millionaires as profiled in The Millionaire Next Door. In trying to keep up with the low-profile millionaires of this world, you will experience little pressure. In contrast to the bastard rich, low profile millionaires actually show less wealth than they have. They live way below their means instead of way above their means. Wealth to low-profile millionaires isn't determined by the material possessions one has. Wealth is defined in terms of investments,appreciable assets, income-producing properties, common stocks, and bonds.

The second choice is to keep up with the Zenrich; this involves keeping up with yourself. Zenrich philosophy advocates setting your own values and goals. The heck with Donald Trump, Bill Gates, and Oprah. Regardless of how rich you become, there will always be someone richer. Being Zenrich doesn't mean that you shouldn't be looking to experience more prosperity and increase your wealth. On the contrary, you will be striving for these two goals in a relaxed manner. You set your own pace and gauge your success based on your own standards, not anyone else's. Your goal is to attain a good balance between how much you spend to experience present day prosperity and how much you save to increase your wealth.

The following two pages list the differences between the bastard rich and the Zenrich. As you can see from the comparisons, it's not that difficult creating more wealth than your doctor when she is a member of the bastard rich and you are Zenrich. Your Zenrich strategy for creating wealth is being in touch with your spending tendencies, and simply being yourself.

20 Telling Signs You Are a Member of the Bastard Rich

• You park your heavily-financed Lexus or Mercedes with vanity plates in front of coffee bars to impress people.
• You sacrifice satisfying living experiences for possessions that end up bringing little satisfaction to your life.
• You work long hours at the expense of family life.
• You are more impressed by other people's possessions than their character.
• You are a name-dropper of well-known wealthy people and exotic places where you have encountered them.
• You have a hard time accepting that a low-paid janitor in your neighborhood has accumulated more wealth than you.
• Regardless of your income, you always spend more than you make in an attempt to show others you have made it.
• "Paying by cash" is not in your vocabulary.
• You try to be one-up on everyone with the latest trendy computers,
  cell-phones, stereo equipment, and furniture.
• You buy the latest fashions and wouldn't be caught dead with last season's clothing.
• In a hurry to acquire wealth, you are prone to lose big money in get-rich-quick scams that liberate your money for good.
• You purchase anything priced at $100 or more on credit and have ongoing credit card debts.
• Despite having earned a good income for many years, you have saved very little for retirement.
• You are prone to binge spending when your ego needs a boost.
• You purchase expensive clothes and household items you never use, and in most cases, never return for a refund.
• The size of a house and the ritzy neighborhood in which it is located are more important to you than its coziness.
• You identify heavily with your car's style and prestige and think it represents your character.
• You work at a high-status, high-income job which you terribly dislike.
• Your heroes are wealthy people regardless of how unscrupulously or dishonestly they made their money.
• You are unhappy and dissatisfied no matter how much income you make.

I received the following e-mail about The Joy of Not Working from Ye Xianlong in late April 2008:

Hi Ernie,

I enjoyed your The Joy of Not Working.

Ratrace is more damaging than ever. Like cancer eating away at fabric of society. Technology is suppose to let us have more leisure time but it did the opposite for many people.

Work epidemic that you mention has infected S'pore a great deal.

http://www.nationalfamilycelebrations.sg

Here the government launched family day out. Too many people working long hours & sacrificing family.

Some of reasons are:

- increasing foreign workers competition
- foreign workers have no family & friends so long hours; locals struggle
or get fired
- rising costs of living
- keeping up with the joneses
- increasing workload (cost cutting)
- instant stress (people expecting instant replies to cellphone msg,
blueberries etc)
- increasing information overload


Thanks for your unorthodox books.

Less clutter,
Xianlong

Over 250,000 Copies Sold
Published in 17 Languages

Purchase The Joy of Not Working as the perfect retirement party gift on Amazon.com with this direct link:

The Joy of Not Working on Amazon.com

The Retirement Jokes Café

Where to Retire

Jobs in Retirement

The Retirement Speech Samples Café

Retirement Dinner Speeches at the Retirement Speeches Café

The Principal Retirement Poems Café

The Retirement Letters Café

Retirement Gifts on The Retirement Café

There are more fools among buyers than among sellers.
- French Proverb

20 Telling Signs You Are a Member of the Zenrich

• You wouldn't accept vanity plates for your car if they were provided free of charge.
• You are not possessed by your possessions and direct your time towards living experiences that enhance your life.
• Your family is more important than your career.
• Efforts by the bastard rich to impress you with their status-seeking possessions has the opposite effect.
• You associate with people due to their good character and not due to their wealth and status.
• You realize that some of the wealthiest people in your city may have modest incomes and little status in their jobs.
• Financial independence to do your own thing is more important to you than displaying wealth to impress others.
• You pay cash for practically everything aside from big items.
• Obtaining the latest trendy consumer products to keep up with the bastard rich is the furthest thing from your mind.
• You wear stylish clothing with the classic look and realize that fashion is a tax on the vanity of the bastard rich.
• You are not in a hurry to be wealthy, knowing you will get there sooner or later through your own creative efforts.
• You use your credit card for convenience and to acquire airmiles, but always pay off the bills at the end of the month.
• Your wealth is increasing every day because you spend less than you earn and invest the difference.
• You are in touch with any underlying emotional factors that tempt you to spend money irrationally and have got these wasteful spending habits under control.
• You never buy something for which you don't have any time.
• You realize that a small house can hold as much happiness as a large one, often more considering who buys large ones.
• You purchase a car for its function and reliability instead of its style and prestige.
• You are working at a job you really enjoy and not strictly for the money.
• Your heroes are great people, such as Nelson Mandela, Ghandi, and Mother Teresa, who never made much money.
• You are able to show gratitude every day for the things you already have in your life.

Here are some new topics on The Money Cafe That Will Help You Ensure That Handling Money Is a Retirement Gift You Have Given Yourself:

101 Websites and Blogs about Money That Will Make You Smarter and Richer!
Money Can't Buy Happiness
How to Make Money While You Sleep
Fashion Is Designed to Inflate Your Ego and Slim Your Bank Account
Why a Small House Can Hold Just as Much Happiness as a Large One - Often Even More!
How to Become a Millionaire
The Best Advice Ever for Buying a Used Car
How Much Money You Can Make as a Student Guinea Pig
Don't Ever Lend Money to Friends

And One from the Fun at Work Cafe:

Fun Speech Ideas

Working in Retirement Years


If you are going to work in your retirement years, why not work at a Fun Retirement Job

As Greg Aldrik said, "Ask yourself, 'If all jobs paid $2 an hour, what job would I want to do?' When you answer that question, start doing it, even if you have to do it for free at first."

Also See:

Jobs in Retirement

The 237 Best Things Ever Said about Retirement - A Free Retirement Gift

Here are some of the topics covered in The 237 Best Things Ever Said about Retirement

• Achieving Financial Abundance for Your Retirement
• Advice on How to Retire Happy
• Definition of Retirement
• Difficulties of Retirement
• Having a Retirement Plan
• Health Tips for the Retired and Semi-Retired
• How Rich You Should Be When You Die
• Investing Your Retirement Funds Wisely
• Keeping Active in Retirement
• Longevity
• Men and Women in Retirement
• Paradox of Retirement
• People Contemplating Retirement

Download the Free E-book (in PDF format) with 237 retirement quotes and retirement sayings placed in over 40 categories at the link below:

Retirement Gifts

The Best Retirement Book in the World
Which Is Also the Best Retirement Gift

Over 125,000 Copies Sold

Published in 8 Foreign Languages

Purchase How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free by Ernie ZelinskI on Amazon.com with this direct link:

HOW TO RETIRE HAPPY, WILD, AND FREE on Amazon.com

Purchase How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free by Real Career Success Author Ernie Zelinski on BarnesandNoble.com with this direct link:

HOW TO RETIRE HAPPY, WILD, AND FREE on BarnesandNoble

Visit one of Ernie Zelinski's Other Blogs:

Ernie Zelinski's Redroom Blog

Ernie Zelinski's Blog on Morgan James Publishing

Check Out

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free Review on Quintessential Careers by
Nancy Miller



Career Success Without a Real Job

Dream Jobs on UnrealJob.com

The Joy of Not Being Retired: 365 Reaons Why Retirement Rocks ( and Work Doesnt')

Sensationally Innovative and Creative

For More Retirement Gift Tips

THE BEST RETIREMENT GIFTS