My wife got nice buyout for early retirement 3 years ago. She has had some difficulty adjusting, but she is glad to out of that hellhole; she spends a lot of time relaxing with a book or a streaming video and the dogs; and I tell her flat out how she uses her time is her choice. Since we got rid of the second house as a result, and paid off this one, then used her buyout to pay off the cars, we have the ability to put away $3-4K monthly and only draw a little from her retirement each month to pay the health insurance.
I still work because I have no real ability to do anything recreational until after I get my transplant, and my employer values me, so they allow me to flex around my health care.