>Not having a job is a pants-on-fire emergency, and I would be interviewing 24/7 until I corrected it,
This would have the absolutely opposite effect of that, I was in this mood and it made getting a job impossible because I'd appear too stressed and too depressed on every single interview. Sometimes relaxing and letting it be is just better and a lot more productive.
There's a difference between panicking and making it your job to find your next job. We often hear the two extremes, "stressed and depressed" and "relaxed and on vacation".
"Delaying retirement" is absolutely an option - and not a bad one while with extremely flexible financial needs - but it's one to take eyes open.
This would have the absolutely opposite effect of that, I was in this mood and it made getting a job impossible because I'd appear too stressed and too depressed on every single interview. Sometimes relaxing and letting it be is just better and a lot more productive.