I did not work full time any place that offered pensions or other retirement benefits and spent many years as a part time independent contractor at a home office while the kids were little (okay, my dining room, usually at midnight while everyone else slept) or on site. My SS would be on the low side although I paid into it for 30 years, and often at the 13 percent self-employed rate, so I will be piggybacking on DH's SS instead.
We do have DH's pension. He took the 100 percent survivor option so it will continue should I live longer than he does. It is about 20 percent of his final year's gross pay but comes to 50 percent of his net (no deductions for SS, health insurance, 401k contributions, state taxes). The pension plus the Vanguard IRA's dividends and capital gains payouts cover most of our essentials; we pull from the IRA's money market chunk to cover property taxes and big ticket things like travel, home repairs, etc. His pension like many others here was frozen but he was young enough that the replacement benefits, which morphed into a 401k with minimal matching, turned out mighty fine.
We plan to take SS at 70 so that its growth by then may offset the lack of a cola for the pension.
We feel most fortunate that all the parts are working together and to be ER'd for five years plus. Our kids are more astute financially about their future retirements than DH and I were so I hope they will be okay to ER in a few decades themselves.