The only thing I miss about working is the ability to scrounge stuff from job sites. I certainly don't miss the actual working part, and I definitely don't miss all the driving through rush hour traffic to get there and back home, lol. Now for scrounging, I just go driving around in the van on junk days. I'm mostly after scrap steel I can weld and make projects out of. Old bed frames are great and I've scored a few so far. As far as the "flat wallet" goes, mine's probably about the same as it's always been (not really fat but not too thin). But I planned for my retirement, started saving and investing probably a good 25 years ago, not a lot but steadily. It grew over the years and now is paying off. I stuck with one job long enough to earn a pension and that combined with Social Security pretty much pays all my bills. Sometimes there's even a bit left over at the end of the month. And dividends from my investments are just gravy on all that. Last year, dividends from the stock market were so good, my total income was right up there equal to about the most I ever made while working. I did want to retire earlier than I did (55 instead of 62) but that didn't work out. But that was probably a good thing. Seven more years paying into Social Security upped my monthly check so it all worked out for the best I'd say.