Best Birthday Gifts for the Retired Dad: These Gifts Will Help Dad Pass the Time

A birthday is a great time to get your dad a gift to show him how much you love him. If your dad is retired, his birthday is also a perfect time to buy him something to help pass all that free time he suddenly has. Dads are notoriously difficult to buy for, but they don't have to be. If your dad is retired and you're looking for the perfect birthday gift, look no further than these great choices.

Netflix Membership - One of the best gifts to buy a retired dad for his birthday is a Netflix membership. Several memberships are available, from the lowest level membership package at $8.99 a month, to the top level at $16.99 a month. With the membership, your dad can rent anything from one movie to four movies at a time, depending on membership level. The movies are delivered to your dad's house and, to return them, all he has to do is put them back in his mail box and let the mailman do the rest. You can do three month, six month or one year memberships and, with each membership giving your dad upwards of 50 hours of month of entertainment, they're a great deal.

Amazon.com Gift Certificate - In the last few years, Amazon.com has really branched out in the types of gifts it sells. From being a company that predominantly sold books, it now sells everything you can think of and a lot of stuff you can't. An Amazon.com gift certificate is the perfect birthday gift for a retired dad as he can choose what he wants. Books, DVDs, CDs, gardening equipment, kitchen equipment, electronics, games even food is all available on Amazon.com and, if the gift is over $25, most of the items will be shipped for free too.

Restaurant Gift Certificates - When many dads retire, they start to be more careful with money. No longer getting the big paychecks and with social security payments not being high, cutting out things like eating out helps with their finances. Having a nice meal out though can also be a mood booster, and a $30 gift certificate to a restaurant like Olive Garden, Chili's or T.G.I. Friday's can give your dad (and mom!) a couple of hours of a great meal and a fun atmosphere. You can order them online too.

Car Wash Gift Certificates - Where washing the car used to be an easy and pleasurable experience for many dads, as they get older, washing the car can wear them out. For a retired dad, a birthday gift certificate for five car washes gives him a break from doing it himself. Plus, while he's down at the car washing waiting for his car to be washed he'll probably get free coffee and a chance to talk to other people.

These are just four ideas for birthday gifts for a retired dad. There are many more. When you think about getting a gift for your dad think of three things - will it save him money, will it be fun and is it something he will enjoy? If you can cover these three things with one gift, you've usually chosen a winner and given your dad a gift that will make him happy and know how much you love him.