Retirement brings an onslaught of life-changing choices, so one thing you can do to help you rock retirement is to become a better decision-maker. If you are wondering how you can do that, then you’ll want to listen to this interview with Annie Duke. Annie Duke is the author of Thinking in Bets and she just released a new book called How to Decide. She knows that people can improve the quality of their decisions and she’s here to teach us how. Press play to learn how you can make better decisions so that you can rock your retirement. 

There are 2 things that create a great life

There are only 2 things that determine the way your life turns out: luck and the quality of your decisions. You don’t have any control over the luck part, but you do have control over the quality of your decisions. It is important to acknowledge that luck has a role to play in the quality of your life. Once you have come to terms with that then you can focus on improving the quality of your decisions. 

Decisions are made with incomplete information

Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect world where you have all the information needed to choose wisely. There are so many unknown factors that affect your choices, so how can you possibly choose correctly? Uncertainty, luck, and imperfect information all impact our decisions. But rather than being paralyzed by these factors, you can use probability to help you. 

Think about how you can get more information. Most of the time we are making our decisions behind a veil of ignorance. This is why it is so important to ask questions. When you ask you are doing something, you are improving your data set. Gain some information but don’t become overwhelmed with information overload. Set some parameters to help guide you in your decision making. 

Have you defined your values and goals? 

Before making any major life choices you’ll want to have a clear understanding of your values and your goals. Having well-defined values and goals can help you choose. Think about how positive or negative results of your decisions will move you toward your goals. 

Don’t just go with your gut

So many people use their guts to make decisions, but the gut is not the right tool to use. You can’t measure it. You want to make sure that you use a process, strategy, and tactics to help you decide. It’s also important to examine your decision making by going back and reflecting on your decisions. Learn why this is so important in this interview with Annie Duke. 

If listening to this episode wasn’t enough and you want to learn more about making better decisions, then make sure you’re signed up for the 6 Shot Saturday newsletter to receive a free chapter of Annie’s new book, How to Decide. You’ll also get an invite for the webinar taking place on October 29 at 7 pm CDT.

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

• [3:32] There are 2 things that create a great life
• [6:02] Are high stakes decisions more important than smaller decisions?
• [12:50] How we judge decisions
• [21:37] Don’t just go with your gut
• [27:40] What hindsight can teach us
• [33:48] A thought experiment
• [44:23] Use decision tools to help you

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

• [48:03] Sign up for 6-Shot Saturday to get a FREE chapter of How to Decide

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

BOOK - How to Decide by Annie Duke

BOOK - Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Work with Roger

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center