I was talking to a friend recently who’s in his early 50s, and at this point, he’s starting to count down the months until he can kick off retirement. To his credit, he’s saved well and endured a pretty tough work schedule for many years to build up a nice nest egg. So he feels confident he’ll be ready — and able — to wrap up his career within a decade.

I, on the other hand, am not a fan of early retirement. In fact, if I have it my way, I may never retire at all.

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But I also know that I can’t plan to never retire. So I’m pushing myself to build savings as a backup plan.

My issue with retirement

Although I certainly don’t mind the occasional quiet weekend, I’m someone who likes keeping busy. And I fear 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: Wake up around 8:00 in the morning. Make breakfast. Check the news. Watch some TV. Run an errand in town. Make lunch. Watch more TV. Make dinner. Watch additional TV. And done.

That sounds torturous to me. So I’d rather keep busy by working in some capacity, even if it’s not the exact same type of work I do now.

But I also know that being able to work in retirement isn’t guaranteed. If there’s a bad economy, I may not be able to find a job. If health issues arise, they could easily get in the way of being able to work regularly. So I know that I need to have savings rather than assume I’ll be able to keep earning money indefinitely.

It’s not easy, but I’m doing it

Saving for retirement isn’t exactly my favorite thing to do. I’d love to take some of the money I’ve accumulated and spend it on a nicer home and a car that isn’t an aging minivan, and whose doors don’t jam on me every other time I try to close them.

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

Seeing as how I’m someone who likes being busy, a 40% pay cut doesn’t work for my preferred lifestyle. Sure, there are plenty of ways to keep busy for free. But I want the option to pay for entertainment, since it could lend to my quality of 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 options for work have dwindled and you’re struggling financially later in life because you let your savings fall by the wayside.

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