I don’t want to retire. Here’s why I’m saving up to do it anyway.

I was recently talking to a friend who is in his 50’s and is currently counting down the months until he can start retirement. To his credit, he saved well and endured a pretty tough work schedule for many years to build a nice nest egg. So he feels confident he’ll be ready — and able — to end his career in a decade.

I, on the other hand, am not a fan of early retirement. In fact, if I do it my way, I might not retire at all.

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But I also know that I can’t plan on never retiring. So I try to save as a backup plan.

My problem with retirement

While I certainly don’t mind the occasional quiet weekend, I’m someone who likes to keep busy. And I’m afraid that if I were to retire, I wouldn’t be busy enough to feel satisfied and fulfilled.

My close friend’s father, for example, has been retired for almost a year, and his daily schedule goes something like this: Get up around 8:00 in the morning. Make breakfast. Check the news. Watch some TV. Run an errand in town. Make lunch. Watch more on TV. Make dinner. Watch additional TV. And that’s it.

I find this excruciating. So I’d rather be busy working in some capacity, even if it’s not exactly the same type of work I’m doing now.

But I also know that being able to work in retirement is not guaranteed. If there is a bad economy, I may not be able to find a job. If health problems arise, they could easily prevent them from working regularly. So I know I need to save instead of assuming I can keep making money forever.

It’s not easy, but I do it

Saving for retirement isn’t exactly my favorite thing to do. I’d like to take some of my savings and spend it on a nicer house and a car like this it is not an outdated minivan and whose doors not they jam every time I try to close them.

But I also know it’s important to save for retirement because I’m not guaranteed to be able to work as long as I want. And I certainly won’t just go back to Social Security, because those benefits are only designed to replace about 40% of your income if you earn an average wage.

Seeing as I’m someone who likes to be busy, a 40% pay cut doesn’t work for my preferred lifestyle. Sure, there are plenty of ways to stay busy for free. But I want the option to pay for entertainment because it might add to the quality of my life.

If you feel the same way I do about retirement, don’t make the mistake of neglecting your nest egg. You don’t want to end up in a situation where your job options have dwindled and you’re struggling financially later in life because you put your savings on the sidelines.