The realities you face when you stop working might be a far cry from your retirement dream. Of course, retiring broke or not being able to retire at all are among the worst-case scenarios.

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But there are plenty of other snags you might encounter. If you haven't properly prepared for leaving the working world and living without a paycheck, you'll have to face the ugly truths about retirement.

Click through to find out 14 downsides of retiring that no one talks about, along with solutions to avoid each potential problem.

Your Net Worth Becomes Meaningless When You Retire

You might have diligently been setting aside money for the future and have a big nest egg now. But even $1 million might not last long in retirement if you live in a state where the cost of living is high.

Unfortunately, when people set retirement savings goals, they often do so without actually knowing how much they'll need each month to cover expenses in retirement, said Niles Geary, co-founder and CEO of Voyage Partners, a financial planning firm in Johnson City, Tenn. Only 38 percent of workers have estimated how much income they would need each month in retirement, according to a survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald & Associates. "Your net worth becomes meaningless when you retire," Geary said. "The only thing that matters is how much income your net worth produces."

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Solution: Create an Income Plan

For starters, don't assume that you'll spend a lot less in retirement. Most retirees spend between 80 and 90 percent of what they were spending during the year before they retired, Geary said. So your savings need to be able to generate enough monthly income to sustain your current spending habits.

If you're already retired and didn't calculate how much income you would need to cover monthly expenses, you might have to make adjustments in your spending. Geary recommends distinguishing your needs from your wants and calculating how much you need to get by each month versus what you're also spending on wants."That gap has gotten pretty big," he said. Eliminating many of your wants might help you make your retirement savings last longer.