In her session on “This Bumpy Economic Road” at the recent NACVA/CTI conference in Washington, D.C., Jan Davis (Blue Sage Research) presented an interesting take on demographic statistics that impact the business valuation profession.

Retirement age increasing: The number of people continuing to work past retirement age is growing. Nationally, the employment rates for people age 65 and older were 17.2% and 18.5% in 2009 and 2012, respectively. “If people continue to work past retirement age, they are postponing gifting their businesses to heirs or selling out to their partners or other possible acquirers,” she says.

Encore careers: After retiring, many baby boomers will launch another career to maintain their income level and lifestyle. This can mean purchasing a business.

Marriage and divorce: Marriage rates in the U.S. are at an all-time low, which could mean fewer divorces down the road. However, the Supreme Court’s recent decision on civil unions (the DOMA decision) may counter the low-marriage-rate trend in the long term.

Remarriages are at greater risk of ending in divorce. That’s because remarried individuals have demonstrated their willingness to get divorced in the event of an unsatisfactory marriage. The divorce rate among married couples age 50 and older is two-and-one-half times greater for those in remarriages than in first marriages.