Twenty five years ago, women and job retirement might not have been something that was all that common, however, in the last years, with more and more women working, obviously more and more eventually retire. This poses a challenge to friends and family of retiring women as well as many employers who wish to purchase thoughtful, personal retirement gifts as a token of their gratitude for the work done over the years.

While some women might still enjoy receiving the more standard and contemporary types of retirement gifts, many people as well as employers are opting for different types of gifts, geared more towards the person’s personal tastes and habits.

Of course, this works well if you are very familiar with the person who is retiring, however, especially with employers not all know their employees to this degree. Nonetheless, there are some wonderful gift ideas that will be appreciated by any woman on the occasion of their retirement. Some of these include:

• Monthly massages;

• Membership to a monthly dinner club;

• Gift certificate to a bookstore;

• Gift certificate to a health spa;

• Mini -getaway;

• Donation in their name to a charity;

• Silver or gold picture frame with a professional portrait;

• Cheese, chocolate or coffee of the month club;

Purchasing the right retirement gift is a must, especially as retirement can be a very happy occasion or one that is fraught with bittersweet moments, especially for those employees who have been at the same job for many years. In these cases, the employee will often feel as though they are leaving their family and this can get very emotionally difficult. Therefore…some think that an ongoing, monthly continuity gifts like some mentioned above (i.e. chocolate of the month club, monthly spa certificates, etc) make the best gifts because it implies a continued and ongoing relationship which is associated with the job that the retiree has just left.

However, the retirement party and the gift itself can be something that the employee can remember for a long time, especially if this is directly tied in with their personal preferences and passions. A personalized gift will make them feel special, as though the company or friends and family have gone out of their way to make sure that the gift they were given was "the" perfect one for them.

Why not make sure that your message of appreciation and gratitude is passed along exactly in the way that you would like it to be?

With so many boomers retiring (many of them women) soon, it’s nice to know that buying "that perfect" retirement gift for that someone special is only a few clicks away on your computer keyboard.