The Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) journey can be tricky. It’s necessary to maximize earnings, increase savings, and also land in the optimum lifestyle that we desire to live. Having these goals can come into conflict with what others either fairly or unfairly expect of us. So, is it dishonest to take a new job without mentioning retirement plans? Being honest during new opportunity interviews served me very well in the last years of my first long career and all of my retirement jobs. It’s a major reason for my FIRE success. Here’s why it’s not dishonest to withhold retirement goals.

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Why Mentioning Retirement Plans Isn’t Necessary In The Pursuit Of Opportunity

A prospective employer’s thoughts don’t usually fish around retirement related questions during an interview when we’re young. It’s more a subtle issue once we stroll into the age 50+ ballpark. Younger FIRE aficionados probably seldom encounter this issue. But it’s a good idea to be prepared for the possible ethical dilemma of whether mentioning retirement plans is necessary. There’s a cost for businesses to onboard a new employee. They have a right to feel they will get their money’s worth. But we also have the right to have our own goals in mind. 

Many people will have no problem with this issue. 

There is an understood truth that we are all at-will employees and nobody owes anyone anything. Unless of course there is a legally binding contract which isn’t usually an issue except at the executive level. But for a lot of people there is a hope that the new opportunity is a chance for a mutually rewarding relationship. Otherwise, why even do it in the first place? We shouldn’t start off intentionally disloyal or dishonest in the relationship right from the start. I know I don’t ever want to feel like a ruthless jackhole. I have to live with myself. 

My early retirement plan was to reach employment liberation by age 50. But that didn’t stop me from wanting to pursue opportunities up to and after the big day of freedom. Navigating around the issue isn’t that complex, you just need to be prepared. 

They Don’t Ask, You Don’t Tell

It would be a rare thing for a prospective employer to come right out and directly ask about our future retirement plans. If it comes it will be in the way they discuss their employment longevity desires. This could be a discussion about how their workforce has low turnover and people stay for many years. Or that they are looking for someone who is a great fit and will be a lifer with the company. There’s no deception in keeping your retirement plans to yourself. Just say how wonderful that sounds and how you would welcome working in that kind of environment. 

Before my first early retirement there was an internal promotion opportunity in another group. Something that would bring in more earnings to go toward my financial goals and a chance to learn and do something I had great interest in. I always embrace both flexibility and adventure. I saw it as a “let’s see what happens” opportunity. They didn’t ask about my retirement plans and I didn’t tell them. In the end, my job offer was first presented to my director by the hiring manager as a courtesy. My director decided that I would be marked as a kind of department franchise player and he killed the offer. I was brought in to be told about it, I baulked, and he offered me a raise to silence the issue.

I doubt I would have received that raise had they known of my coming retirement plans. He didn’t ask about any of my retirement plans and there was no dishonesty in not telling him.

Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years?

A lot of interviewers like to throw the where you see yourself question out or its numerous variants. There is a right way and a wrong way to answer what’s your future career plans question. It’s definitely ill advised to say it’s to retire in an xyz timeframe living the life of leisure. They aren’t concerned with that and are looking for answers related to career aspirations that will be an asset to them as it relates to the presented opportunity and their business. Obviously, focusing on the real reasons we are excited to go through the hassle of interviewing for a new opportunity is an honest answer. 

This issue along with dealing with the overqualified roadblock came up in my first stepped down retirement job. It was during the recession and I had retired as a legacy network telecom engineer and was applying for a cellular telecom tech job near my home. I’m sure they initially assumed I was laid off like so many others and would jump at a chance to return to a like titled job as soon as one came up. I had always wanted to learn about the wireless industry and all of my answers were truthful around that. Not that I was financially independent and flight risk at any time by retiring again. As long as the gig was rewarding I honestly planned on being there. 

Open Ended vs Fixed Commitment

Some opportunities are open ended, like we want someone to stay for a long time with us as mentioned above. Others have a fixed component. As in, we need someone to commit to finish this XX month or year project. In that case the ethical dilemma isn’t about spilling your retirement plans. But instead whether you can honestly commit to the timeframe regardless of any retirement plans

This was the issue I encountered when interviewing for my encore career. It was another opportunity of interest and passion. I was to support a huge video project at a major cable company with a specific minimum project time frame. My accepting the position without explaining my retirement status was far from the equation. I simply made the decision to accept the timeframe commitment. It was the best and most rewarding working experience of my life. After the project and another contract extension I ended up retiring again with no hard or dishonest feelings.

If It’s Heaven You May Change Your Retirement Plans, If It’s Hell Too

One of the things that I always thought about when taking a new job and not mentioning my retirement plans or status is that a lot can happen in the time there. Both good and bad. We can’t see into the future. The relationship and rewards can be so great that retirement will be gladly put off. Or it can go wrong and become obvious that the relationship has spoiled and needs to end. 

Nearly two years into my first retirement stepped down gig I had an opportunity to advance. I had actually done the job in my past and it was a step up from where I was there. Everything went great and the offer was discussed but as I was later told they decided to give it to a younger applicant because at my age of 53 I was seen as a flight risk. Nobody asked, nobody told, but the employer made their own assumptions. They were right. I left a couple of months later. But I will always wonder if I would have stayed there a lot longer had they not done that. I really liked working there but it made the decision very easy to leave and accept a new opportunity that came my way. 

Always Be Open To New Opportunities

Nobody ethically believes that people should never be open to new and better opportunities in their life. That shouldn’t end just because there’s a near retirement date in our plans or we are already retired and want to work. There is nothing dishonest in this. 

Retirement is the absence of needing to work, not the absence of working. Sure, it screws up the system of employment that depends on a financially desperate working class. But there are no ethical issues of honesty with our winning at their game. If directly asked about retirement plans then truthfully answer you hope to one day retire just like almost everyone else does. But right now I am totally excited about and focused on this opportunity. 

This issue is something I had to think about because I had always intended on retiring early and often. It was bound to come up. I created a lot of retirement opportunity boundaries to make sure any paid work I took on would be rewarding. The odds were already tilted in my favor because I didn’t need to work. I also didn’t need to have dishonesty be any part of it. In the end there is no legal obligation to mentioning your retirement plans. But we should still consider whether we are acting ethically and honestly. Not for them, but for ourselves.