Well, I guess it "flies" for us. We retired 2 years ago at 46 and 56. We said if something came along that interests us, we would consider (consulting project, piece-by-piece type of "work") dabbling - and so far, in 3 years, nothing has. So we consider ourselves retired. Should I (or my husband) take a project for one week/month during the year, I still would consider myself retired as opposed to "semi-retired." When you take on employment that goes on for longer periods to which you are committed for specific days/hours/location, I would say you are not retired. When you can pick and choose when and how much and where you want to work at any given time, I feel I can call myself/ourselves retired. So, yes, it flies for us, and obviously for MMM.
The key for us is that we have so many other interests/hobbies - which is a HUGE issue/problem for many; they can't, for the love of God - figure what in the hell they'd do with themselves/time if they retired so young! So if that's the predicament you are in, I can only say........keep working! We value our "free/retired" time too much to