Fortunately, I received and accepted an offer for a position at a new company. I am working with several friends and colleagues I have known for many years, and I believe that their advocacy was a big reason I was given the job. I considered this a true blessing, as I had been unsuccessful in interviews with a few other companies.

But I still plan on retiring at 65.

Is there an ethical imperative for me to give my new employer a heads-up about my plan? If so, how much notice do you think I should give? Should I feel guilty about the fact my friends helped secure me the position?

— New Hampshire

You have no need to worry. Unless they asked you explicitly in the interviews or when they extended you the offer that you commit to a particular duration of employment, you can retire at whatever point you like.

The reason employers tend not to like short tenures is because they want to amortize the hassle of hiring, training, and everything else that goes into bringing a new employee on board. The fact that you are highly experienced and already comfortable with so many of your colleagues ameliorates this issue to some degree. There is also the possibility — common with employees at the end of their careers — that you keep working in some capacity for this company as a consultant.

I am not sure from your question whether you plan on taking on part-time or contract work once you retire, but if you want to make yourself feel a little less guilty when you quit, include in your resignation letter a sentence or two offering to freelance. Benefits typically add about 30 percent to the cost of a salaried employee. If you end up working for this company part-time after a year or so in-house, this might be an even better deal for the company than they had bargained for originally. It might even qualify as “a win-win”!

As for notice: Ideally, you want to give them as much as they would need to find and train your replacement. A month would be a nice amount.

Severance Includes the Word ‘Sever’

I’m middle-aged in a youth-dominated technical industry and beyond burned out. A few months back, I went to H.R. to explore alternatives to full-time, in-office work. There were none, and during the conversation I hinted I was thinking of leaving. Mistake. I was naïvely under the impression that H.R. people were like lawyers and bound by silence — but soon after, word came down from above asking me “when I was planning to leave.”