• 75 questions

Retirement Party Trivia Questions

Trivia for a retirement party about work, rest and what comes after, with the answer and the reason behind it.

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At what age did the folk artist Grandma Moses begin painting in earnest?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with any school, exam board, quiz show, government agency or club. Bank checked October 12, 2026.

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All 75 questions with answers

Second acts and late starts 12

  • According to Roman tradition, what was Cincinnatus doing when he was called to take command of the state? Answer: Working at his plow. Source: Wikipedia: Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
  • Asked to come back to power, the retired Roman emperor Diocletian is said to have answered by praising which crop he had planted with his own hands? Answer: Cabbages. Source: Wikipedia: Diocletian
  • At 71, Michelangelo took on a new job as the architect of which building? Answer: St. Peter's Basilica. Source: Wikipedia: Michelangelo
  • At what age did Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., a justice who had fought in the Civil War as a young man, retire from the Supreme Court of the United States? Answer: 90. Source: Wikipedia: Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
  • At what age did the folk artist Grandma Moses begin painting in earnest? Answer: 78. Source: Wikipedia: Grandma Moses
  • Giuseppe Verdi wrote Falstaff, his last opera, as he neared the age of 80. Whose plays is it based on? Answer: William Shakespeare. Source: Wikipedia: Falstaff (opera)
  • In 1771 Mary Delany, a widow in her early seventies, began the work she is remembered for. What did she make? Answer: Pictures of plants cut from paper. Source: Wikipedia: Mary Delany
  • The Japanese printmaker Hokusai wrote that nothing he had drawn was worth taking into account before which birthday of his? Answer: His seventieth. Source: Wikipedia: Hokusai
  • Konrad Adenauer was thought to be only a caretaker when he became the first chancellor of West Germany in 1949. How old was he? Answer: 73. Source: Wikipedia: Konrad Adenauer
  • Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in February 1867, and her first book came out in 1932. In which decade of her life was she? Answer: Her sixties. Source: Wikipedia: Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • Peter Mark Roget began his thesaurus after he retired from professional life in 1840. What had his profession been? Answer: Physician. Source: Wikipedia: Peter Mark Roget
  • Where did Emperor Charles V go to live in 1557, after he had given up his thrones? Answer: A monastery in Spain. Source: Wikipedia: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Farewells and last bows 11

  • A Roman gladiator who won his freedom was handed a rudis. What was it? Answer: A wooden training sword. Source: Wikipedia: Gladiator
  • At the very end of Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony, which instruments are still playing? Answer: Two muted violins. Source: Wikipedia: Symphony No. 45 (Haydn)
  • Australians say that someone who keeps saying goodbye has made "more farewells than" which singer? Answer: Dame Nellie Melba. Source: Wikipedia: Nellie Melba
  • The French goodbye au revoir means what, word for word? Answer: Until the seeing again. Source: Wiktionary: au revoir
  • General Douglas MacArthur closed his 1951 farewell to Congress with "old soldiers never die; they just fade away". Where did the line come from? Answer: A soldiers' song. Source: Wikipedia: Old soldiers never die
  • How does a professional sumo wrestler mark the end of his career at his retirement ceremony? Answer: His topknot is cut off. Source: Wikipedia: Rikishi
  • In Japan, many stores and restaurants play the song Hotaru no Hikari to usher customers out at closing time. Which Scottish tune does it use? Answer: Auld Lang Syne. Source: Wikipedia: Hotaru no Hikari
  • In the last movement of Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony, what does each musician do in turn? Answer: Stops playing, snuffs out a candle and leaves. Source: Wikipedia: Symphony No. 45 (Haydn)
  • On February 11, 1861, Abraham Lincoln said goodbye to his neighbors in Springfield, Illinois. From where did he speak? Answer: From his railroad car. Source: Wikipedia: Abraham Lincoln's farewell address
  • Pope Celestine V did something unusual in 1294, after only five months in office. What? Answer: He decreed that a pope may resign, then resigned. Source: Wikipedia: Papal renunciation
  • Which baseball player called himself "the luckiest man on the face of the earth" in a farewell speech on July 4, 1939? Answer: Lou Gehrig. Source: Wikipedia: Lou Gehrig

Pensions and the first checks 15

  • Britain's Old Age Pensions Act of 1908 paid a single person over seventy how much a week? Answer: Five shillings. Source: Wikipedia: Old Age Pensions Act 1908
  • Ernest Ackerman, a Cleveland motorman, retired one day after Social Security began in 1937. How much was his lump-sum payment? Answer: 17 cents. Source: Social Security Administration, history pages: Historical Background and Development of Social Security
  • The first monthly Social Security check, dated January 31, 1940, was for how much? Answer: $22.54. Source: Social Security Administration, history pages: Historical Background and Development of Social Security
  • For her first ten years of benefits, how did the amount of Ida May Fuller's monthly Social Security check change? Answer: It did not change at all. Source: Social Security Administration, history pages: Historical Background and Development of Social Security
  • In 1938 a wallet maker put a sample Social Security card in every wallet it sold. Whose real number was printed on it? Answer: A secretary at the company. Source: Social Security Administration, history pages: Social Security Numbers, the most misused number
  • In a pamphlet of 1795, which writer of the American Revolution proposed yearly payments to every person aged 50 and older? Answer: Thomas Paine. Source: Social Security Administration, history pages: Historical Background and Development of Social Security
  • The last person to receive a pension from the American Civil War died in which year? Answer: 2020. Source: Wikipedia: Irene Triplett
  • Late in 1936, how did the government hand out the first Social Security numbers? Answer: Through local post offices. Source: Social Security Administration, history pages: The First Social Security Number and the Lowest Number
  • The lowest Social Security number, 001-01-0001, was issued to an applicant in which state? Answer: New Hampshire. Source: Social Security Administration, history pages: The First Social Security Number and the Lowest Number
  • The Townsend Plan of 1933 called for every American over sixty to receive how much each month? Answer: $200. Source: Wikipedia: Townsend Plan
  • What was the job of Ida May Fuller of Vermont, who received the first monthly Social Security check in 1940? Answer: Legal secretary. Source: Social Security Administration, history pages: The First Social Security Beneficiary
  • Which country set up the world's first national old-age social insurance program, in 1889? Answer: Germany. Source: Social Security Administration, history pages: Otto von Bismarck
  • Which president signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act into law on Labor Day in 1974? Answer: Gerald Ford. Source: Wikipedia: Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
  • Which Roman emperor set up a military treasury to pay pensions to veterans of the army? Answer: Augustus. Source: Wikipedia: Aerarium militare
  • The world's first national old-age insurance program began in 1889. What was its retirement age? Answer: 70. Source: Social Security Administration, history pages: Age 65 Retirement

Words for the end of work 16

  • A nest egg is money saved for later. What was a nest egg first? Answer: An egg left in a nest so that a bird would lay there. Source: Wiktionary: nest egg
  • A retired professor may keep the title emeritus. In Latin, what had an emeritus done? Answer: Served out his time. Source: Wiktionary: emeritus
  • A sinecure is a paid post with little or no work. What does the Latin sine cura mean? Answer: Without care. Source: Wiktionary: sinecure
  • A valedictory is a farewell speech. What does the Latin valedicere mean? Answer: To say farewell. Source: Wiktionary: valedictory
  • Adieu, like the Spanish adiós, grew from a phrase that meant what? Answer: To God. Source: Wiktionary: adieu
  • Alumnus is a Latin word. What did it mean to the Romans? Answer: A foster child. Source: Wiktionary: alumnus
  • An annuity pays out on a regular schedule. Its name comes from the Latin annuus, which means what? Answer: Yearly. Source: Wiktionary: annuity
  • Before hobby meant a pastime, what was a hobby? Answer: A small horse or pony. Source: Wiktionary: hobby
  • Career came into English from the French carrière. What did carrière mean? Answer: A road or racecourse. Source: Wiktionary: career
  • Farewell was first said to someone setting out on a journey. What did fare mean? Answer: To travel. Source: Wiktionary: farewell
  • How old is a septuagenarian? Answer: In their seventies. Source: Wiktionary: septuagenarian
  • Leisure goes back to the Latin verb licere. What does licere mean? Answer: To be permitted. Source: Wiktionary: leisure
  • Pension goes back to the Latin pensio. What was a pensio? Answer: A payment. Source: Wiktionary: pension
  • Scholars sometimes present a Festschrift to a colleague who is retiring. What is it? Answer: A book of writings in the person's honor. Source: Wikipedia: Festschrift
  • The verb retire comes from the French retirer. What did retirer mean? Answer: To draw back. Source: Wiktionary: retire
  • Veteran comes from the Latin veteranus, which is built on vetus. What does vetus mean? Answer: Old. Source: Wiktionary: veteran

Days off and long holidays 9

  • A sabbatical takes its name from the sabbath. In the Book of Leviticus, how often were the fields to rest for a whole year? Answer: Every seventh year. Source: Wikipedia: Sabbatical
  • In 1929 the Soviet Union put factories and offices on a "continuous" working week. How many days long was its cycle? Answer: Five. Source: Wikipedia: Soviet calendar
  • In June 1936 a new French government passed a law that gave workers what for the first time in France? Answer: Two weeks of paid vacation. Source: Wikipedia: Matignon Agreements (1936)
  • In the mill towns of northern England, what happened during a town's "wakes week"? Answer: The local mills and factories closed and the town took its holiday. Source: Wikipedia: Wakes week
  • On 7 March 321, which Roman emperor decreed that Sunday would be the Roman day of rest? Answer: Constantine. Source: Wikipedia: Sunday
  • The Oxford English Dictionary finds the first use of the word "weekend" in a British magazine of which year? Answer: 1879. Source: Wikipedia: Workweek and weekend
  • Sir John Lubbock brought in Britain's Bank Holidays Act of 1871. What did some people nickname the new holidays? Answer: St Lubbock's Days. Source: Wikipedia: Bank Holidays Act 1871
  • What is a busman's holiday? Answer: Time off spent doing much the same as your job. Source: Wiktionary: busman's holiday
  • What is gardening leave? Answer: Time when a departing employee stays on the payroll but has no duties. Source: Wikipedia: Garden leave

Pastimes for the first Monday off 12

  • According to John Aubrey, the card game cribbage was created in the early 17th century by Sir John Suckling. What was Suckling? Answer: A poet. Source: Wikipedia: Cribbage
  • The All England Club at Wimbledon was formed in 1868. For which game? Answer: Croquet. Source: Wikipedia: Croquet
  • Canasta, a card game devised in Uruguay in 1939, takes its name from the Spanish word for what? Answer: Basket. Source: Wikipedia: Canasta
  • In Australia, what is a "grey nomad"? Answer: A retired person traveling in a recreational vehicle. Source: Wikipedia: Recreational vehicle
  • In bocce, what is the pallino? Answer: The small target ball. Source: Wikipedia: Bocce
  • The modern sudoku was most probably designed by Howard Garns of Connersville, Indiana. Who was he? Answer: A retired architect. Source: Wikipedia: Sudoku
  • The oldest bowling green left in the world was first used in 1299. In which English city is it? Answer: Southampton. Source: Wikipedia: Bowls
  • Pétanque took shape in Provence around 1910 to suit a player with severe rheumatism. What could he no longer do? Answer: Run before throwing. Source: Wikipedia: Pétanque
  • The phrase "bird watching" first appeared in 1901. Where? Answer: As the title of a book. Source: Wikipedia: Birdwatching
  • The University of the Third Age, for people no longer in full-time work, began in 1973 in which French city? Answer: Toulouse. Source: Wikipedia: University of the Third Age
  • Which English king is recorded playing "shovillabourde", an early table form of shuffleboard, for stakes? Answer: Henry VIII. Source: Wikipedia: Shuffleboard
  • Who set out the rules of contract bridge in 1925? Answer: Harold Vanderbilt. Source: Wikipedia: Contract bridge

How it works

These retirement party trivia questions ask nothing about the guest of honor, so they fit any retiree and every guest can play. Each of the 75 has four choices and one answer, checked against a source the quiz names with it.

Read the full guide

Six rounds, from second acts to shuffleboard

Second acts and late starts opens with a painter who began at 78 and an emperor who retired to grow cabbages. Farewells and last bows has a symphony whose players walk out one by one. Pensions and the first checks follows the money from a Roman emperor's fund to five shillings a week. Words for the end of work, Days off and long holidays and Pastimes for the first Monday off finish the set.

Run it as a retirement party trivia game

Seat guests at tables and give one reader the phone. The reader says each question and its choices aloud, and the tables write an answer before the tap.

  • Words for the end of work is the gentlest round by our estimate, so open with it.
  • Save the questions only colleagues can answer for between rounds: the themed party games list has a career timeline quiz for the retiree.

Questions and answers

What are good trivia questions for a retirement party?

Ones every guest can try without knowing the retiree: what a sumo wrestler gives up at his retirement ceremony, which card game is named for a basket, what a busman's holiday is. Keep the stories about the guest of honor for the toasts.

Who got the first Social Security check?

Ida May Fuller, a legal secretary from Ludlow, Vermont. Her monthly check for $22.54 was dated January 31, 1940. In 1937 a Cleveland motorman, Ernest Ackerman, had received a one-time payment of 17 cents.

Why was 65 chosen as the retirement age?

Not because of Bismarck: Germany's first program used 70. In 1935 the planners of Social Security found that about half of the state pension systems used 65 and half used 70, and the new federal railroad plan used 65. They chose 65.

Where does the word retire come from?

From the French retirer, to draw back, built from re-, back, and tirer, to pull. Pension goes back to a Latin word for a payment, and a nest egg was first an egg left in a nest so that a bird would lay there.

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