An excellent post there JW411, which pretty neatly sums up the current situation. For a guy leaving at his 38/40 year pension point from the military, who has a family to support, a 'pay to fly job" with Ryanair or Cathay 2nd Officer is not financially viable however.
The only options right now are military friendly outfits like Monarch and Jet2 (if they open up again to non-TR pilots).
When I see that guys with well over 500 hours 737-NG are getting knocked back for jobs, it tells you something about the state of the job market right now.
Here's hoping for some improvements next year!