I've told my story before. Was still w*rking because I found myself in an assignment I liked and which used my talents. When that assignment was yanked, I could have stayed, done a p-poor job for a couple of years just to sweeten my retirement pot, but would have hated every minute of it (and myself for doing the p-poor job). So I RE'd with FI (Guess we call that FIRED.
)
Just for fun, I looked for part time w*rk. Turns out, in my very specialized talent area, there was simply nothing available. So, I found a very limited PT j*b of driving used cars to the auction. So, just for something to do, I tried it. For something like $6/hr, I found a job that had more politics than the one I left where I earned 10 X that much. Go figure. Imagine the 80 year old guy who'd been doing this for 25 years (and worked for his BIL) being the "lead" driver of a dozen cars. You were supposed to keep in line, stay together, arrive at the same time, leave together in a van (assigned seats) and then stop (aka waste time) at a diner on the way home (we were actually paid by mile, not really by hour).
Only part of the j*b I loved was the occasional trip to another dealership to pick up a new car. DW and I could make a morning or afternoon of it. We each made about $7.50/hr because we weren't following a string of 12 cars lead by a power-mad 80 year old! If we wanted to stop for lunch we could. If we wanted to drive 80 we could. In short, other than the pay, it was a fun way to spend some time with DW.
Eventually, when local economy was tanking, the "plum" assignments dried up and we quit. Still, it just goes to show that the remuneration is secondary to enjoyment of a w*rk situation.
Of course, YMMV.