I was totally at the top of my game and had no intentions of changing jobs, let alone retiring.
The company screwed up by sending me on a three month paid sabbatical. I spent most of it goofing off, sitting in a chair under an umbrella at the lake, swimming, drinking Guiness and reading. Unfortunately my view of the water was frequently blocked by girls in bikini's. I did get past that though.
I slept better, was more relaxed, and felt 9000% better than I ever had in my life.
When I got back, it was like a veil was lifted from my eyes. 95% of what I did was politics and horseshit. Of no value to me or to the company. Stupidity, egos and puffery of no real consequence.
I just couldnt do it anymore. As hard as I tried, I couldnt put the veil back on. A few months later the company stock dropped ~90%. A few months after that they offered a years pay with benefits and some other nice bonuses for anyone willing to quit, with the stipulation that you couldnt be rehired for a year.
So I took the years paid vacation figuring I'd see how a longer version worked for me. I knew then as I know now that I could be hired back in 60 seconds after my old boss picked up the phone, or any of a hundred other people for that matter.
Honestly...never looked back.