Dunning Kruger

Dunning Kruger

Self-assessment is a dangerous activity. Have you noticed that most people believe they are good drivers, further that they are better than average. This is the Dunning Kruger effect.

Experiments have shown that in a random sample of drivers as many as 80% self-assess as above average. Shouldn’t the number be around 50%, and what has this got to do with retirement?

My research has shown me that most people rate their retirement as successful. Now I am not suggesting that there is any logical measure of what success in retirement even means. There are too many variations in personality and social and economical arrangements to make that feasible. 

But this retirement self-rating strikes me as odd, and possibly another example of Dunning Kruger at work, and I think I can explain what is going on here. Retirement is so often thought of as a vacant space that comes after work in which not too much happens that is considered useful by our broader society. Therefore measured against that bleak metric any retirement would look great.

Retirement is not a vacant space. It can be an enormously exciting and productive time. This is where retirement coaching can benefit a person near or in retirement; simply because it puts some OBJECTIVITY into the analysis. 

The retirement coach – with all of his/her experience - can help the client to see where to improve the postwork phase of life by understanding the dynamics involved.

Retirement: You won’t know what it is like until you get there.