Informally plentiful as I quit work in retirement (5)

I believe the answer is:

lotsa

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'informally plentiful' is the definition.
'lotsa' can be an answer for 'plentiful' (I've seen this in another clue). I'm not sure about the 'informally' bit.

'i quit work in retirement' is the wordplay.
'i' becomes 'a'.
'quit work' becomes 'stol' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'in retirement' says the letters should be written backwards (retire can mean to go back or backwards).
'a'+'stol'='astol'
'astol' back-to-front is 'LOTSA'.

'as' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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