• Look for luxury and comfort gifts to celebrate a 50th birthday.birthday image by Albert Lozano from Fotolia.com
  
  By age 50 men and women usually have all the things they need and most of the things they want. Birthday gifts for 50-year-olds should favor luxury and comfort items. If the recipient is a family member, you already know their tastes. If your boss plays golf, she'll use a ceramic golf ball-shaped coffee mug. If the admin has 10 cats, give him something cat-related (not another cat) such as a cat drinking fountain.
  
  

Comfort Gifts

• Both men and women appreciate soft, warm throws; cashmere socks; cashmere-lined leather gloves and cashmere scarves. A spa gift certificate will always be welcome. If the 50-year-old drinks coffee but is limited to one cup, a single-cup personal coffeemaker is in order. Consider books on crafts and decorating or a cordless electric teapot and loose tea samplers. An enclosed fresh herb keeper that keeps herbs like parsley and cilantro upright with their toes dipped in water and stores in the refrigerator is a perfect gift for those who do a lot of cooking.
  
  

Sports Gifts

• Give an avid sports fan tickets to sports events. The golfer will appreciate personalized golf bag tags. If price is no object, get a golf swing video recorder that attaches to the golf bag or cart then captures body and swings from up to 6 feet away. Playback is through the built-in screen, TV or computer. A golf ball return robot and a golf ball cleaner are other golf gifts. The fisherman might like an angler's backpack for carrying fishing gear and a beer holster for carrying a bottle of beer or water at the waist to keep hands free while fishing.
  
  

Electronic and Miscellaneous Gifts

• A remote-controlled desktop radio would be handy. Frequent travelers might like a GPS image tracker to record date, time and place of all photos as they are shot. The exercise buff would like a handheld GPS system to track workouts. Give colorful koi print throw pillows. Koi fish are the feng shui symbols of prosperity and good fortune. A detailed hand-hooked koi pond rug at the bedside will warm cold feet. A subscription to National Geographic magazine for the reader and tickets to a play are thoughtful. For those who like it hot, purchase a Salsa of the Month membership.
  
  

Gardening Gifts

• Gardeners can use gardening seat and tool carriers, rattan garden tool baskets, garden benches, compost bins for making their own gardening compost, and flower, plant and tree seeds. Self-watering hanging baskets, self-watering vegetable planters, urns and pretty pottery for the patio and yard are gifts that those who spend time on the patio or in the yard will appreciated.