First Year of Retirement Surprises

US news lists five first year retirement surprises as follows: 

• It might be stressful.
• It's not a permanent vacation.
• Your relationship with your spouse will change.
• You may need to re-negotiate your division of household responsibilities.
• Your relationship with money will change.

Well, I'm only a few months into retirement but I thought I'd comment on these based on my experience so far:

• It has not been stressful. In fact, it's been the opposite of stressful. I am more relaxed than I have ever been in my life. I had a fairly high-powered career and that was certainly stressful much of the time. But not working is the opposite of stressful. The key: if you have enough money to cover your expenses, then what is there to be stressed about?
• It took about a month to get out of vacation mode. And it wasn't me as much as it was my family. Because I was home during the day, they would always ask "what are we doing today?" and expecting something unusual like we'd do when on vacation. I eventually got to the point where I'd simply say "nothing" (versus coming up with a trip to the movies or something similar) and they got the message. This said, we do try to do something with the entire family a couple times a week -- usually during the week when places we go are less busy. We now avoid weekend outings like the plague.
• My relationship with my wife has changed -- it's gotten better. We now take 2-3 long walks a day plus spend more time just being around each other since we're both at home. So far we haven't driven each other crazy. :)
• My household duties have changed. Now that I have more time I do more cooking and cleaning than before. I also have had the chance to get to several home projects that have been "on my list" for some time.
• I don't think my relationship with money has changed. It's a tool and one I use and manage to help me accomplish my life objectives -- the same as it's always been.

So, those are my thoughts on their list. Are there any other retirees out there with comments on these five "surprises"?

Comments

[Abandoned Cubicle]

Great to see this. I have a post in the works that asks the question whether stress is the main driver in early retirement. Seeing that you're not experiencing stress AFTER the fact is affirming. When my time comes in 2020, I expect I'll have a long list of house projects, alongside childcare, and rental property mgmt to keep me busy.