Nice one well done you on catching them out and doing well out of it as a result.
You're absolutely right we're all just a number at the end of the day. I like the old saying, "Put your hand into a bucket of water/sand and then pull it out. The gap that's left is how much you'll be missed when you're gone."
There are a number of reasons why I took early retirement. One big one was seeing about ten fellow shipmates I knew die around the fleet before the age of sixty in a short space of time. Some of those flogged themselves to death and put the company first. Some I had tried to tell to ease off or quit, a few could have done so but didn't. When I was going one said, "If you stayed another four years you'd earn X amount of thousands extra, going now you'll be spending it " I replied " Yes but I'd have to sacrifice another four years of my valuable time doing so."
A couple of months ago one ex shipmate had decided to take voluntary redundancy that was being being offered due to covid. He had met a lovely younger lady on a golfing holiday in Portugal and was going to relocate over there and draw his navy pension. The travel restrictions were delaying the move much to his frustration. One morning he went to play golf and in the clubhouse later he felt unwell, ending up in hospital. Nobody thought it was serious, he posted a picture of himself on the hospital trolley saying they were transferring him to the heart unit. Everyone was ripping the piss out of him. I was on holiday in Tenerife and the next morning got a text to say he'd died. He was 56, no history of heart trouble or any illness.
Never wait or delay, do what makes you happy, you'll always get by. Too many flog themselves to death for a retirement utopia they never get to see.