For CEOs, retirement is the ultimate performance review—and 60% are failing it

In today’s CEO Daily: How CEOs can plan for successful retirements.

The big leadership story: Bank of America is worried about bonds.

The markets: Mixed as inflation expectations tick up.

Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune .

Good morning.

Phil Wahba writing from New York.

Earlier this month, I wrote about how more companies, among them Verizon , Boeing and Cracker Barrel, have been hiring CEOs out of retirement, often in times of crisis.

But why do these CEOs, who are presumably wealthy enough to never work again, accept a grueling new assignment in their sixth or seventh decades? A new study suggests an answer: They simply weren’t prepared for retirement.

New data published by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in early August found that only 40% felt satisfied with their transition from hard-charging CEO to retiree in the first year after making the move.

It seems that many CEOs, like millions of other Americans, underestimate the emotional upheaval that comes from suddenly having a lighter schedule, no longer having a role central to their identity, or no longer having the structure that a job gives them.

“Is the decision to get a new CEO job really motivated by value creation where you know a unique skill that you bring that only you can do, or is it … really more fear or vanity?” asks Christine Barton, leader of BCG’s North America CEO Advisory practice.

It can be especially difficult for CEOs who are still relatively young, in their 50s and 60s, who want to stay in the mix.

Mary Dillon, former CEO of Ulta Beauty , told me three years ago that when she came out of retirement after a highly successful stint at Ulta to lead Foot Locker in her early 60s, that “I didn’t realize how much I would miss having one big thing to focus on and how much I would miss leading a retail company.” Here is something companies can help with: Helping CEOs prepare to leave.

Having an executive coach is pretty standard now, but Barton says there is a growing niche within the CEO coaching world specifically tailored to helping executives prepare for active retirement and build their legacy.