>>A happy life is not a life of retirement, its a life of meaning. What was meaningful once (aiming for retirement), loses its meaning once it has been attained.

Who said anything about happiness. We are mixing two different things 'retirement' and 'happiness'. Happiness is an emotional state, and Retirement is a financial state. Happiness/Sadness can apply to any situation. It has nothing to do with wealth or financial independence.

Retirement is about having enough to not worry about being in need of a job to just keep your head above water.

Retirement is just worth the independence and availability of options.