I think it varies by character. My stepfather only really stopped working when he suffered a pretty serious stroke. Prior to that, even when he wasn't employed, he was still working in his home lab, inventing stuff. (He's an electrical engineer, not a super villain or a crank - he wasn't inventing death rays or anti-gravity, but he holds a couple of patents on inventions that have made other people a few million dollars or so. Plus, during one of his "retirements", he worked on the gas chromatograph on the Phoenix lander.)
On the other hand, I'm more likely to fall into Employee Number Whatsit situation - we have a seven month old kid, and there are definitely days when I wish I could just coast along with my red stapler until she turns 18 and moves out of the house, to say nothing of really putting in time to work on projects and hobbies at home.
