99 Good Retirement Quotes and Messages That Don't Suck

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Retiring can be a bittersweet event for anyone; it signals the freedom from the constraints of the nine to five, of course, but it also marks a passing of time and the onset of the Golden Years, unless you’re lucky enough to retire young. Suddenly finding oneself without a routine or things with which to fill our time can be a daunting prospect, so it can help to have some words of wisdom to give to someone when they find themselves in that very situation.

Whether someone you care about is celebrating or commiserating their retirement, these retirement quotes will help you find the right things to say to help them see how wonderful their life is about to become. Showing that life doesn’t stop once you clock out for the last time, these poignant words will really give pause for thought, and help one to embrace the change with a feeling of excitement and optimism.

Take heart from the aspirational thoughts of C.S. Lewis or feel the fun in Dick Van Dyke’s musings as you make your way through this list of retirement quotes, and you will be able to turn the notion of retirement as the end on its head. And for those who refuse to see the endless possibilities in this next phase of life, there’s even a quote from the grumpy Lord Byron to keep them company while other seniors are out having a ball.

If you want to send a message that’s incredibly uplifting, take a look at these positive quotes. Or if you’re looking for something a little more introspective, see these quotes about change.

Retirement Quotes and Messages

“I’ve enjoyed my retirement.” – Darrell Royal

“Best wishes on your retirement. Enjoy a rest that’s overdue. Take pleasure in the finer things that are awaiting you.” – Judith Wibberley

“With retirement, however, comes a great chunk of free time.” – Steven D. Price

You may also like: These positive quotes for any occasion: https://brightdrops.com/category/positive-quotes

“I’m really in retirement. My career is over. I’m just playing now and having a great time. I like to keep busy, and I’m doing what’s fun for me.” – Dick Van Dyke

“I never had the sense that there was an end: that there was a retirement or that there was a jackpot.” – Leonard Cohen

“For now I’m building up stories for the retirement home!” – Carol Vorderman

Related; Encouraging Quotes

“Retirement has been wonderful.” – Michelle McCool

“There’s no retirement for an artist,its your way of living so theres no end to it.” – Bono

“Retirement, a time to do what you want to do, when you want to do it, where you want to do it, and how you want to do it.” – Catherine Pulsifer

“As in all successful ventures, the foundation of a good retirement is planning.” – Earl Nightingale

“Retire? I’m going to stay in show business until I’m the only one left.” – George Burns

“Retirement is a blank sheet of paper. It is a chance to redesign your life into something new and different.” – Patrick Foley

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” – J. Lubbock

“Austerity should not be a death sentence. Every person should be able to retire with the benefits they’ve earned and the dignity they deserve.” – Fuad Alakbarov

“For many, retirement is a time for personal growth, which becomes the path to greater personal freedom.” – Robert Delamontagne

“Retirement sounds appropriate when you are ageing, fact is you aged because you have been thinking of retirement.” – Amit Kalantri

“You can’t retire from being great.” – Unknown

“Retirement life is different because there is no set routine. You are able to let the day unfold as it should. Enjoy, be happy and live each day.” – Suzanne Steel

“Retirement may be an ending, a closing, but it is also a new beginning.” – Catherine Pulsifer

“Retirement’s the most wonderful thing. I get to enjoy all the things I never stopped to notice on the way up. After an extraordinary life, it’s time to enjoy my retirement.” – Patrick Macnee

“Don’t think of retiring from the world until the world will be sorry that you retire.” – Samuel Johnson

“In retirement, I have enjoyed it… and everyone misses the game, there’s no question, you miss lots of different parts of it.” – Mike Fisher

“I’m happy in retirement.” – Greg Rusedski

“We work all our lives so we can retire – so we can do what we want with our time – and the way we define or spend our time defines who we are and what we value.” – Bruce Linton

“The goal of retirement is to live off your assets-not on them” – Frank Eberhart

“For me, being in retirement, it was just having the opportunity to watch other stuff and do different things.” – Shawn Michaels

“The rolling contract was designed to specifically take away some of that retirement talk and retirement issue.” – David Gill

“A lot of our friends complain about their retirement. We tell ’em to get a life.” – Larry Laser

“Don’t simply retire from something; have something to retire to.” – Harry Emerson Fosdick

“What do gardeners do when they retire?” – Bob Monkhouse

“Age is only a number, a cipher for the records. A man can’t retire his experience. He must use it. Experience achieves more with less energy and time.” – Bernard Baruch

“People may live as much retired from the world as they like, but sooner or later they find themselves debtor or creditor to someone.” – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

“Retirement: That’s when you return from work one day and say, Hi, Honey, I’m home — forever.” – Gene Perret

“Money isn’t everything, but it is when you start thinking about putting money away for your retirement days.” – Andre Leon Talley

“I like to tell people that I finally found something I’m really good at, and that’s retirement.” – Hank Greenwald

“A retired husband is often a wife’s full-time job.” – Ella Harris

“You have to pick what you’re going to be worried about. Markets are volatile, but retirement is certain.” – Nick Murray

“I’m retired – goodbye tension!” – Unknown

“Retirement, a time to enjoy all the things you never had time to do when you worked.” – Catherine Pulsifer

“Working people have a lot of bad habits, but the worst of these is work.” – Clarence Darrow

“I have to think about the possible ramifications of an early retirement.” – Ehud Olmert

“Happy days are here at last, the days of nine to five are passed, you’ve worked your life and paid your dues, now you can do just what you choose!” – Anon

“Sometimes it’s hard to tell if retirement is a reward for a lifetime of hard work or a punishment.” – Terri Guillemets

“Retirement itself is the best gift. No gold watch could ever top it.” – Abigail Charleson

“When a man retires and time is no longer a matter of urgent importance, his colleagues generally present him with a watch.” – R.C. Sherriff

“Your retirement identity is of a successful person who creatively and efficiently manages your money and lifestyle to adapt to the ever-changing economic and personal conditions of our time.” – Lee Johnson

“What does retirement mean now that there are so many opportunities for learning, for caring, for serving? We can redefine aging.” – Rachel Cowan

“Retirement is like a long vacation in Las Vegas. The goal is to enjoy it the fullest, but not so fully that you run out of money.” – Jonathan Clements

“You get old faster when you think about retirement.” – Toba Beta

“Retirement is wonderful. It’s doing nothing without worrying about getting caught at it.” – Gene Perret

“The question isn’t at what age I want to retire, it’s at what income.” – George Foreman

“Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.” – Fred Rogers

“Fear no more the heat o the sun, nor the furious winter’s rages. Thou thy worldly task hast done, home art gone and taken thy wages.” – William Shakespeare

“It can take as long as three years to completely adjust to your retirement. Be patient and know that a new life is awakening within you.” – Mark Evan Chimsky

“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I’m always announcing my retirement. I’m still not retired.” – Dick Van Dyke

“Retirement means doing whatever I want to do. It means choice.” – Dianne Nahirny

“Younger workers should have more freedom to build their retirement nest egg.” – Gresham Barrett

“You might be on the back nine of life, but it’s good to finish strong.” – Morton Shaevitz

“Retire from work, but not from life.” – M. K. Soni

“Retirement is one of those consequential changes in life, it offers us a unique opportunity to start over, to move beyond the past and to once again live forward.” – Rick Steiner

“There are so many other interesting ways to spend your time. I feel like early retirement is a gift, but it’s such an incredible gift. It’s a gift I need to use. – Martha Felt” – Bardon

“For it is in your power to retire into yourself whenever you choose.” – Marcus Aurelius

“It won’t be the same around here without you. For you brightened every day. You will be missed but we wish you lots of happiness.” – Julie Hebert

“God has a plan for your retirement.” – Billy Graham

“Sit back and relax and do the things you never got a chance to do.” – Julie Hebert

“Retirement is the last opportunity for individuals to reinvent themselves, let go of the past, and find peace and happiness within.” – Ernie J Zelinski

“Don’t act your age in retirement. Act like the inner young person you have always been.” – J. A. West

“I enjoy waking up and not having to go to work. So I do it three or four times a day.” – Gene Perret

“Retirement: That’s when you return from work one day and say, Hi, Honey, I’m home — forever.” – Gene Perret

“I think that retirement is the first step towards the grave.” – Hugh Hefner

“I found out retirement means playing golf, or I don’t know what the hell it means. But to me, retirement means doing what you have fun doing.” – Dick Van Dyke

“My formula for a treasured retirement is simple: plan, design, enjoy.” – Julia Valentine

“Retirement is having nothing to do and someone always keeping you from it.” – Robert Breault

“Retirement accords with the tone of my mind; I will not descend to a world I despise.” – Lord Byron

“For retirement brings repose, and repose allows a kindly judgment of all things.” – John Sharp Williams

“Retirement is not about ‘finding’ ourselves – or losing ourselves in electronic distractions – but about creating a new life for ourselves and those around us.” – Rick Steiner

“A thriving New Beginning can be and should be a time for amazing engagement, growth, connections, contributions and increased possibilities.” – Lee M. Brower

“The key to retirement is to find joy in the little things.” – Susan Miller

“As you embark on the exciting journey into retirement, you will experience a transition that will be both thrilling and terrifying.” – Olivia Greenwell

“I need to retire from retirement.” – Sandra Day O’Connor

“To enjoy a long, comfortable retirement, save more today.” – Suze Orman

“I always likened retirement to falling off a cliff, and then you have to kind of brush yourself off.” – Steve Young

“May your hours of reminiscence be filled with days of good cheer and weeks of pleasant memories.” – Author Unknown

“Retirement is not a life without purpose; it is the on-going purpose that provides meaningfulless.” – Robert Rivers

“The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.” – Abe Lemons

“Art is one of the few careers without a mandatory retirement age.” – Julia Cameron

“There are days in retirement that are the waking equivalent of a dreamless sleep, if you know what I mean.” – Robert Breault

“retirement. I call it bliss.” – Betty Sullivan

“The first step to a thriving unretirement is to begin by asking yourself what it is you want to be doing.” – Chris Farrell

“Retirement is when you switch bosses from the one who hired you to the one who married you.” – Gene Perret

“Retiring just so you can do nothing is no way to live life and so from now on, the word retirement will be replaced with the word, graduation.” – Mike Finley