I agree with Hotsaucebeard.
I have plenty of money. I could have retired 6 years ago but I had nothing to do.
For me, work is a love hate thing. I had just got back yesterday from 2 weeks off - but everyday I was checking my emails and dialing in for conference calls etc. I was sitting on a tropical island, looking over a beautiful blue sea with my laptop in front of me and feeling bored if I did not have stuff to do.
I could definitely afford to stop work - but then what?
Responses like this and that of the OP are really sad. People are so involved with their job, that they have no life and no identity outside of work. Essentially, life is their work. They have no other interest.
Like many of you, I find this kind of response is simply mind boggling. "Work" is about the last thing we'd want to do with our time.
To those in the "why not work? what else could I possibly do?" group, you should probably really make an effort finding something else to do. Unless you are one of those sad creatures that plans to die on the job, at some point, you will be retired. Don't be "that guy" who withers and dies within a year or two of retirement.
Remember, you once had a real life- maybe it was a long time ago (when you were in college, or just a kid)- what did you like doing back then? It might still be something you can do today.
Do you have any intellectual curiosity outside the narrow field you work in? Why not take college classes (maybe even get another degree) or seminars or even (usually free or low cost) adult education courses at your local school? Not only can you learn something, it might lead to another hobby or activity.
How about volunteering and helping someone? Work at the local animal shelter, or the food bank. Teach adults to read. Volunteer at a VA (or other) hospital. Volunteer at your local school. The volunteer possibilities are nearly endless.
Join a club, or several clubs. Doesn't matter if it's golf, or an investment club, a church, an athletic club, the Kiwanis, or whatever.
Or maybe get involved in politics. You might even decide to run for office.
Or read read read. Good God, I have a book list so long I couldn't read it in a hundred lifetimes.
Hell, even playing computer games or binge watching every episode of "Real Housewives of Atlanta" is less pathetic than "I work because I can't think of anything else to do."
I'm sure that with a little effort, you can think of thousands of other possibilities.
You are more than a worker drone tied to a cubicle until the day you die. You can have interests outside of work, you just need to make the effort to develop them.