10 Things to Expect During Your First Year of Retirement

People who have worked, saved, and invested their whole adult lives can naturally view their retirement date as a finish line. However, it’s really another starting point, and the transition from one journey to another will take some adjustment.

Here are 10 things to expect during your first year of retirement, along with some ideas on how to respond to them.

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There’s naturally going to be a sense of relief at not being at work and having all this time to relax and do what you want when you want, even if you’re leaving a career and job you really enjoyed. That feeling of being on vacation is likely to be short-lived, though, just as vacations actually tend to be for most of us during our working lives.

You know, the one about “my spouse needs me to keep working just to keep me out of the house and out of their hair.” That can be even more true now that so many more people are working at home. Expect changes in expectations and possible accompanying relationship strain inside that domestic bubble. And if you live alone, you may feel the need to find something to do to get out more just to ease the sense of isolation.

It can be a bit of a shock to see your savings suddenly go down as you learn to live on them and Social Security and/or any other fixed income benefits you may have. You’ve been expecting this, of course, but until it happens you really won’t know it feels, even after a working lifetime of preparing for this. Don’t be afraid to talk about those feelings with a trusted friend, life partner, counselor, or other professional.

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Expect to be surprised at how different your spending looks vis-à-vis your income now that you’re not drawing that regular paycheck. That sticker shock about daily life can quickly get you thinking that you may need to make some changes.

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This is a follow-on to the previous point. Expect to realize you need to take a new, hard look at how and where you really spend. Find a way that works best for you, but a good way to start -- as always -- is to make a simple budget that includes all your expenses on one side and your income on the other. And understand that this is your new reality.

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Preparing for retirement is all about taking the long view when it comes to saving and investing. As the newness of actually doing it wears off, the realization that retirement -- just like a career -- can be a long journey will set in, reinforcing the idea that you need to keep planning for the future. You can’t just give it all away, just yet, even if you’d like to start, say, gifting your children and grandchildren as generously as you’d like.

While not working and instead hanging out at the coffee shop with other retiree friends will seem great at first, you may well soon feel bored and unfulfilled. Volunteering is a great way to take care of that. After all, now’s a great time start giving back.

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You may well find that, for lifestyle and gifting and just meeting your definition of basic needs, you must keep working. If that’s the case, the job market is such now that you shouldn’t have much problem finding something. Take advantage of the flexibility you have to pick and choose what works for you time wise and financially.

For many of us, our jobs are a big part of our self-identity, and leaving that can be a bit of shock to our sense of who and what we are. That’s a natural thing to feel, and a good reason to find another job, even if you don’t need it financially. This is a good opportunity to find employment that may not pay all that much but that you really enjoy.

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Social Security is more complicated than you might have realized, especially if you continue working even part-time. Plus, it’s natural for people who have managed their own finances all their working lives to think they’re good to go now. But you can always know more. A good financial advisor can share with you ideas and projections that can help you fine-tune your plans while injecting even more realism into what you’ve been assuming all along.

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