- tbf work
- Retirement cards
What to write in
a retirement card.
Write what the person did for you, not how long they were there. Below are retirement messages for a colleague, a boss and a whole team.
A group card collects one from everybody and sends them on the last day.
Updated 18 September 2026
Retirement messages
Pick one, change a detail so it is true, and sign it.
Short
Congratulations on the retirement. Enjoy the mornings with no alarm.
Wishing you a good retirement. You've earned every bit of it.
Enjoy retirement. The place won't be quite the same without you.
Congratulations. Here's to mornings that are entirely your own now.
Wishing you well in retirement, and thanks for all the years here.
Time to enjoy the mornings properly. Congratulations on retiring.
Enjoy the retirement. You've more than earned the quiet mornings.
Retiring at last. Make the most of every free Monday.
For a colleague
Congratulations on retiring. Working with you made the deadlines easier.
Enjoy the retirement, you've earned every lazy morning that's coming.
Wishing you a good one. Thanks for always having time for a daft question.
Congratulations, and thanks for teaching me things nobody wrote down anywhere.
Enjoy retirement, and enjoy not setting an alarm for the Monday standup.
Wishing you well. It won't be the same without you two desks over.
For a boss
Congratulations on retiring. Thanks for backing decisions that weren't obvious.
Wishing you a good retirement, after years of taking the hard calls off us.
Enjoy the time ahead. You ran this team better than most people manage.
Congratulations, and thanks for the straight answers over the years.
Wishing you well in retirement, and thanks for trusting us with the tricky bits.
Funny
Enjoy never setting an alarm for a nine o'clock call again.
Congratulations. The inbox is now somebody else's problem entirely.
No more commute, just a walk to the kettle from now on.
Congratulations on escaping the meeting that could always have been an email.
Every meeting from now on is one you get to skip.
Retiring before anyone worked out the new expenses system. Well timed.
From the team
We're going to miss having you down the corridor. Enjoy the retirement.
From all of us, thank you for the years and the patience you had with us.
We wanted to say thanks before you go. It won't be the same without you.
The whole team wishes you a good retirement, and an easy one.
We've learned a lot from you over the years, and we're grateful for it.
After decades
Decades here, and you've seen this place change almost beyond recognition.
You've been here longer than most of the building's fittings. Enjoy the retirement.
Few people stay as long as you did, and it shows in everything you built here.
All those years here, and you still knew where everything was kept.
Everyone they worked with, in one card.
One link each, wherever they work.
- 01
Add the date.
Their last day. The card is sent that morning.
- 02
Choose who to ask.
The team and other sites. Each gets a link by email or in Slack.
- 03
Everyone writes their own words.
In a browser, with no account. They keep the card after their work email is switched off.
Questions
What do you write in a retirement card for a coworker?
Thank them for one thing they did for you and wish them well. "Half of what I know about this job I learned by watching you do it."
What is a short retirement message?
"Thank you, for all of it." A short message is fine when many people are signing.
What do you write in a retirement card for a boss?
Say what working for them was like and what you took from it. Leave out jokes about age.
What should you not write in a retirement card?
Jokes about age or health, and anything about who takes over. The card is about them.