Not that again...Personally, I never earned enough money to be profligate..
I don't mean to be rude C-C. You worked for and travelled with the RN for enough years to gain your pension. You seem well-travelled and a skilled man. You have an income in retirement, that affords you to travel, buy a new car, (and I know that downsizing helped with all that) and enjoy the freedom to enjoy your achievements and your hobbies as you should. My life has not been that way, it's been the exact opposite but it's been great for the most part. I knew I'd eventually end up managing on a pension if I was lucky enough to live that long, which is why I bought my home..to make life that much easier. It's not a coincidence that the last mortgage payment came in my 64th year.
My point is that you shouldn't consider those who live as I do to be somehow better off than you, or make like you do, for whatever reason you'd have, because they qualify for this benefit or the other.