Which simple MS plan makes sense to a newly retired chap who basically only needs word and excel and maybe outlook??

Hello

Microsoft 365 Basic doesn't come with desktop version of Office Apps. All you get is OneDrive storage 100GB.

Unfortunately there's not a subscription that comes with only Word or Excel.

The cheapest plan is Microsoft 365 Personal. It is a subscription and allows you to use on up to 5 devices at the same time.

Or, you can buy the one-time purchase perpetual license for Office HOme 2024 so you won't have to pay every month/year. It doesn;t include Outlook Classic app though, and it doesn't come with 1TB of OneDrive storage. Also it will not get feature updates and it can only be used on 1 device.

Or, you can use the www.office.com completely for free, but you just need to upload your files online to open and edit. You can not use it offline.

You can compare the difference licenses here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/buy/compare-all-microsoft-365-products-b

Microsoft now offers different plans besides the standard Microsoft 365 Personal:

✅ Microsoft 365 Personal Classic – basically Personal without the pushed-in AI/Copilot features and potentially lower cost. ✅ Microsoft 365 Basic – lighter tier with web-based Office apps and some Outlook/OneDrive benefits. ✅ Standalone Office (one-time purchase) – non-subscription Office with desktop Word/Excel only (no cloud features, no ongoing fees).