From my retired friends, the advice I get is to learn and "spend" the money we have so diligently saved for so many years. This is the time we have saved for and when it's gone, we'll move in with the kids ... ..or the friends
... Seriously, they told me this was a very hard transition and mindset.
During my quest to determine affordability in TV, I didn't do anything different than I have done my entire working lifetime. I looked at what would be "reliably" coming in and what I could afford. I consider pension and social security [in a few years] as reliable. Investments in 401K, stocks, etc., I considered as unreliable.
From my experience, the house issue is the biggest issue with the Villages. Your retired income will determine what type of home you will buy and whether you have a mortgage or not. Other than the amenity fees & bond, you would probably have the remaining expenses no matter where you live [retire] ...water, cable, internet, food, medical, etc., etc., etc... This is where a good spreadsheet comes in handy to balance everything.
As others have indicated, you can live in TV on $25K or $2.0m Regardless your income, you'll be playing the same golf courses; eating in the same restaurants and dancing to the same music in the squares.
Cheers....