To an outsider, I may have looked like a functioning alcoholic, but like zjw, I was not keeping things together well at all. My consequences had not been too bad except for a DUI several years before. I was able to rationalize that with an "Everyone I know has deserved a DUI at some point. I was just unlucky in getting caught" excuse. But there were still two cars in the garage, a marriage and usually a paycheck.
The reality is I lost at least two jobs as a direct result of alcohol - it's just that my employers may not have known this. My health was crumbling, my marriage was starting to fail and my anxiety was becoming suicidal.
I don't know if other functioning drunks were like me. In my case, things were getting worse and I don't know how much longer I could have kept the illusion going.
Congratulations on your sobriety. I am sure your retirement will be far more fulfilling without alcohol.