Age is just a number -- not the reason behind Regis Philbin's sudden retirement. While many people assumed the 79-year-old wanted to live out his golden years in peace and quiet, it turns out the real reason the talk show host called it quits had more to do with money than anything else. Sources told TMZ that the old codger got p.o.'d when execs decided to cut Philbin's fat paycheck. The Regis and Kelly host currently pulls in as much as $20 million a year. Apparently, Regis' agent Jim Griffin was negotiating with ABC execs when his contract expired, and the network didn't want to pony up that kind of cash, seeing how Philbin takes a lot of time off and the show isn't doing as well, making him less of a commodity these days. Pissed off that he'll no longer be grossly overpaid for his annoying antics, Philbin decided to fly the coop and laid down the hammer in a shocking fashion. Philbin, who's been on a fixture on the show for 28 years, didn't even tell co-host Ripa of his decision until 15 minutes before they went on air. In addition to Ripa, he's also managed to anger the entire production team who feel slighted by Philbin's decision to bail. And in a most crushing blow, Reeg also fired his agent, who he blamed for not getting him mo money.