So, I have not brought this up since late last winter/early spring, but after a nice summer and early fall having lots of free time, DH is employed again. It was quite a journey for him. He started out applying for similar exec level jobs like he had, and then figured out he really did not want to be in charge of anyone for awhile. He even applied for one job working on alternative transportation (which got him to buy a new, hybrid car, albeit, one with AWD). After a few disappointing rounds of interviews, he will be working as a customer success manager for some of the biggest pharmaceutical clients of a company that makes software to meet upcoming world wide compliance regs for these companies and all users to make sure they are not buying/using fake medicine. One of the things he ran into was that a lot of people did not really believe he was looking to downsize and was fine with a lot less money. He developed a good "speech" to explain this, as you definitely can't say outright that you have enough money to do this, as people just see you as a rich azzhole. And a few thought he would leave if something better came along. It seems as if you did what I did, go back to school to do something totally different, that people get that, but no one gets downsizing in a related field, which actually makes sense when you are nearing retirement.
He will only be working with these large customers of his company, making sure things go smoothly. No sales and no managing for now. He did tell his boss he would consider managing a small team, once he learns the business. Just not 300 people all over the world. So, in 6 months, we have downsized everything, and now I can get back to planning for our next cycling trip, which is really all I want to be able to do (travel) before it's too late.