Dallen Haws: Why People Struggle The First Year Of Retirement

I hear many success stories all the time about federal retirees who absolutely love retirement life.

But, I also hear many other stories of things that really took some feds by surprise in the first year of retirement.

Money worries

Transitioning away from a paycheck every two weeks can be a scary thing. Instead of a steady income stream from a job, we now start relying on our investments and other fixed income (Social Security, pension, etc.) to pay the bills.

Depending on your investment strategy, it can be nerve-racking to watch the market fluctuate knowing that our retirement could be affected.

It can also be hard to make all the financial decisions that come in retirement such as when to start Social Security, what to do with Medicare and how to handle required minimum distributions.

And while these issues can be scary, having a great financial plan going into retirement can certainly help make things easier.

We don't change much

One thing that surprises most retirees is the fact they are the same person in retirement as they were before they stopped working. We often have the same interests, personality and preferences before and after retirement.

For example, if you lived life at 100 mph before retirement, then you probably naturally will fill your schedule to stay very busy in retirement as well.

Many people have expressed to me that they don't have as much free time as they thought they would have in retirement because one way or another their schedule fills up.

And while it is certainly possible to turn a new leaf in retirement, most people find that it is just as hard to change in retirement as it is before retirement.

Travel (and life) is expensive

Many of us have a long bucket list of places we'd like to visit and most postpone many of these trips until retirement. Many retirees have expressed to me they are shocked with how much it costs to do a decent amount of traveling.

While I am a huge fan of seeing the world, you will want to make sure your budget can sustain it.

Note: Some people are OK spending more on travel in the early parts of retirement because they realize they may not want to travel as much as their health declines.