Crafting Happy Retirement Messages: Tips & Examples
Retirement is the ultimate career milestone. It signifies that a colleague’s professional journey is coming to a close and, in turn, is a cause for celebration and recognition.
When you prepare happy retirement messages for colleagues, make sure that they’re congratulatory and sincere and acknowledge the retiree’s achievements. You can use your retirement wishes as an opportunity to reflect on the memories you have with your colleague.
Whether you plan to write a retirement card or send your well-wishes digitally, it can be difficult to find the right words to say to recognize your colleague’s hard work and dedication. Read on to learn more about the things to consider when crafting the best retirement wishes for your coworkers.
How do you write a happy retirement message?
When you write a happy retirement message for a coworker, there are several aspects to consider. Make sure your message satisfies most, if not all, of the criteria below:
Congratulate the retiree
Firstly, your retirement message should have a congratulatory tone. After all, retirement is a celebration of a long and eventful career that’s come to an end.
Make sure your happy retirement wishes applaud your retiring colleagues on a job well done over the years and encourage them to kick back and enjoy their next phase of life.
Highlight the retiree’s achievements
Over the course of the retiree’s career, they’re bound to have had a lot of achievements. It’s important to recognize these achievements while the person is still on the job. However, the benefits of employee recognition don’t stop there.
Your retirement message should shed light on your colleagues' career achievements as they’ve reached the ultimate career milestone.
Be sincere with the message
Sincerity is another aspect you should cross off the checklist when crafting a retirement message for your colleague.
They should feel that the words are coming from the heart and that the message isn’t a cookie-cutter template that you simply added their name to.
Of course, this is easier to do if your relationship with the retiree is a good one.
Use humor appropriately
Incorporating humor into your happy retirement message is among the creative employee appreciation ideas you can use.
Your colleague is about to embark on a new chapter of their life. The excitement that comes with this next stage may be accompanied by anxiety.
As a result, a funny retirement message may help ease their doubts about what comes next.
Be careful not to end up with an offensive message that upsets your colleagues on their last day of work.
Speak about their best characteristics
Another example of employee recognition to incorporate into your retirement message is to acknowledge the thing you love the most about your retiring colleague. Even if that aspect of their personality has nothing to do with work, being recognized for it will bring a smile to their face.
Highlight some special memories
Behind the chaos of calls, meetings, deadlines, and status reports in any place of business, there’s one common factor: people. Because of the amount of time spent at work, it’s likely that you’ve developed some really special bonds and memories with your coworkers.
Try to include some of these fond memories you have with the retiree in your retirement wishes. It’ll have them feeling nostalgic and that they really left a mark on the people they worked with.
General & simple retirement wishes for coworkers
Sometimes it’s best to keep it simple when bidding farewell to a coworker.
Here are some possible retirement messages to consider:
- Congratulations on your retirement! So incredibly happy for you.
- Heartfelt congratulations on your retirement. I hope you get some well-deserved rest!
- Congratulations on a standout career, and best wishes for your retirement!
- You’re retiring! I have to say, I’m a little jealous, but mostly just happy for you. Congrats!
- I wish you the very best, and I hope you enjoy every moment of this next phase of your life.
- Words can’t describe how happy I am that I got to work with you. Happy retirement, my friend.
- I hope that your retirement doesn’t mean we’ll stop being friends. Hope to see you soon, buddy.
- I wish retirement gives you the chance to do things you love but don’t have time for. Congratulations, and I wish you happy days ahead.
Appreciative retirement messages
If the person who’s retiring is dear to your heart, you want to show them how much you value and appreciate them. Here are some retirement messages that convey that sentiment:
- I admire and respect how hard you’ve worked over your long career. You not only made a huge difference but also touched a lot of lives along the way. Happy retirement!
- Happy retirement! I’m so proud of your remarkable career and everything you’ve accomplished. I hope you are, too!
- Congratulations on your amazing professional journey. We’re all incredibly grateful for the mark you left on us.
- Nothing but the best—that’s what you always gave. And that’s what we wish for you as you retire. Enjoy your next adventure!
- Congratulations on your retirement! May your future be filled with more of what you appreciate and less of what you don't!
- To my teammate, deskmate, and dear friend, I bid you farewell. I wish you the best in whatever life has in store.
- Arguably no one has sacrificed more over their career than you. We love and appreciate you. Happy retirement!
Funny retirement wishes for a coworker
Retirement is often a bittersweet occasion. Sure, the person retiring is about to enter a phase where they can simply relax and enjoy life. However, they may also feel anxious that a big part of their lives isn’t going to be there anymore. Here are some funny retirement wishes to brighten their mood:
- Goodbye early meetings, and hello early bird specials! Enjoy every bit of your retirement!
- Are you sure you’re old enough to retire? I’m not quite buying it.
- So, that’s it? You’re leaving us just like that? Well, good for you!
- Have fun writing your next chapter! Try not to make it boring, okay?
- A toast to you as you retire! Granted, I’ll drink to about anything, but that doesn’t mean I’m any less happy for you.
- What do you call a person who’s happy on a Monday morning? A retired one! Live it up, my friend.
- Wasn’t yesterday your first day here? Happy retirement, buddy! You’ve worked so hard, and you deserve it.
- You’ve been promoted to the retirement stage! I hope it’s a blast!
- When your new best friends, your bed and the Lazyboy in your living room get boring, don’t forget to pay your old buddy a visit!
Sincere retirement messages
You want the coworker retiring to feel that you truly mean your words of farewell in your happy retirement wishes. Here are some examples to use for inspiration when crafting a sincere retirement message:
- It may seem like a significant part of your life is coming to a close, but I believe with all my heart that you’re about to launch to new heights. Congratulations on your retirement!
- We’re tremendously grateful for your support and encouragement as a member of the team. You’ll be sorely missed!
- We'll remember the fantastic work you did for this company. We appreciate your time and dedication. Congratulations on your retirement.
- It was a real pleasure to work with you. I've always admired your skillful ways of overcoming any challenge, big or small.
- I'm struggling to find the right words to express how I feel right now. I hate to see you go, but I’m excited to see what comes next.
- Throughout our years working together, you were like family to me. Congratulations on an amazing career. It’s now time to be with your real family.
- Your spirit and enthusiasm lit up the office every day you were here. We’ll miss you dearly.
- I never thought the day would come when I’d walk into the office and not see you. Thank you for all the hard work and good times you gave us. We appreciate you and will miss you dearly.
Career retrospective retirement messages
The person retiring is likely to have had a decades-long career in the field. Make sure your retirement message acknowledges their longevity and achievements. Here are some great examples:
- In your illustrious time with this company, you’ve made a lasting impact on all of us. Congratulations on your retirement. Your absence will definitely be felt!
- Your hard work, dedication, and achievements may never be matched. Thank you for setting the standard for everyone.
- You’ve done so much for us that we could never list it all in one place. Your retirement is well deserved, but you will be missed! Best of luck in your new adventures!
- The mark you left on our company and the whole industry is astronomical. Congratulations on all you’ve achieved and to many more achievements to come.
- Your amazing professional journey was only the first act. Knowing you, the second one might just top it! Congratulations, dear friend.
Retirement wishes for a boss
If it’s your boss who’s retiring, your happy retirement wishes to them should communicate how grateful you are for their mentorship and support. It should also show how much you appreciate everything you learned from them. You can use any of the retirement messages below to convey these thoughts:
- You’ve been a great leader and mentor for me. Thank you for putting up with my mistakes and always encouraging me to learn and grow. I hope that you enjoy your retirement, Boss.
- The workplace will not be the same. We will miss your guidance and humor. I hope you won’t stop sharing your pieces of advice and jokes because the world needs them.
- Retirement is a time of self-reflection. As you enter this stage of your life, I hope you realize how big an impact you’ve had on me. Happy relaxation.
- Bosses like you who support their team no matter what is hard to come by. Thank you for everything you taught me and for how much you’ve helped my career. As you retire to be with the folks you love, I hope you experience similar support. Happy retirement.
- Before I came to this company, I didn’t know what a good boss looked like. I still don’t because you were a great boss, leader, and mentor. I truly wish you the very best.
- Your wise words of support and experience will forever stay with me. Congratulations on a stellar career. We’re going to miss you, boss!
For 10 more reasons why organizations should celebrate service anniversaries and other life-affirming moments, check out this guide.
FAQs
How do you write a short retirement speech?
A short retirement speech should be around ten minutes long. It should acknowledge your accomplishments and all the people who have helped you along your journey.
Your retirement speech should also let the audience know what you’ll miss most about the job and what you’re looking forward to in retirement.
Should you give a gift to a coworker who’s retiring?
It’s considered good manners to get a gift for a retiring coworker. How big the retirement gift should be depends on how close you are to the person retiring. However, the bare minimum is to write a heartfelt message on a retirement card.
How do you write a happy retirement letter?
When you write a happy retirement letter, make sure it congratulates the retiree on a stellar career, shows appreciation for all their hard work and achievements, and wishes them success in their future endeavors.
The letter should also have a personal touch and not feel like a generic template you filled out.
Conclusion
Retirement is an event that only happens once in a person’s life. If that person is your colleague, you should help them celebrate this career milestone with some words of appreciation.
Happy retirement messages should celebrate the retiree's achievements and congratulate them on a job well done over the course of their career. They should also let the retiree know how much you appreciate them, cherish the memories you have with them, and how much you’ll miss their presence.
Use the many examples we’ve provided in this guide as inspiration when crafting the perfect farewell message to your retiring colleagues.
About the author
Ryan Stoltz
Ryan is a search marketing manager and content strategist at Workhuman where he writes on the next evolution of the workplace. Outside of the workplace, he's a diehard 49ers fan, comedy junkie, and has trouble avoiding sweets on a nightly basis.