Retirement and MS Office

[damekindness]

Bit of an odd question. I’ve got the full 365 office suite through my employer. In fact I’ve always had this from the time computers were a thing, so never really had to worry about getting my own access. I’m a few months away from retirement and it dawned on me I won’t have that anymore - but I’m likely to continue wanting to use it for personal life admin. What’s the best options?

I use Google docs.

I find it's pretty similar to word/excel etc

Libre office? Google docs?

Of course you can simply buy the Microsoft package yourself if you want like for like

Some companies have an agreement with MS to allow employees to purchase for a nominal fee for personal use. It’s worth asking

Buy the package? If you are nhs, armed forces etc you can often get a discounted subscription which if you got just before you leave then that gives you a full year. Then just accept it as another life tax !

If you use sharepoint / one drive and want regular updates then you will need annual license from Microsoft, if just want the programmes and save files to iCloud or laptop then can buy a lifetime license just for programs, I have just purchased from groupon for about £30. X

It’s not very expensive to buy it yourself. I’ve got the full office suite and I pay about £8 per month.

You can have the online web versions of MS Office and the smartphone apps for free plus 5gb of OneDrive - just create a Microsoft account

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/free-office-online-for-the-web

If your current works MS Office is in your name then the licence will technically expire when you leave but may still work - the desktop applications will depend on the type of licence, the old way would leave the applications and the new subscription method will end with the account closure or annual expiry.

As others have mentioned there are other free alternatives, which can also be combined with a free Microsoft account

For paid Microsoft you can make a one off purchase of the current version (without future upgrades) or subscribe which gives the full desktop applications and more space

You may get a discount on a personal edition if your company subscribes to a suitable Microsoft scheme, which can give you a years subscription at a discounted rate - I have that option, but the family edition can be worth the discount and personal not really, so I don’t bother and subscribe myself

Just pay for it.

@TomikkaMany thanks for taking the time to provide such a full answer.

and of course to everyone else who kindly helped

You can usually get a Wowcher or Groupon for the full desktop Microsoft office package. Usually cheaper than a subscription to the online version. I think I paid about £40 for it for multiple devices so it os on the DC's laptops as well as family one.