Median average income question

[T6 vanman]

Please help me for I'm having a severe mental brain fart

I was discussing finances with T6 junior .............. Why don't they explain these things in school
We were discussing the below graph
Median household disposable income .. one line being non retired and the second being retired.
The question being "disposable"
I read this as ..... Available money from (wages/benefits/pensions etc) once Tax, NI & Council Tax have been removed, ...
The question being .. for the 'non retired households line' is this figure before or after pension deductions (I'm guessing not)


Data from here .. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunit...

Edited by T6 vanman on Friday 4th November 18:49

[Simpo Two]

'Falling median income of people living in retired households reflects a decline over this period in the average amount of income received from private pensions.'

If you're receiving income from a private pension you generally wouldn't be paying into it, though some people do. That said, those payments are voluntary so made from disposable income. All things considered it's probably easier to move onto the next question

[Countdown]

T6 vanman said:

The question being .. is this figure before or after pension deductions (I'm guessing not)

My guess would be before pension deductions. They are discretionary and in any case would vary from 0% to 100% up to £40k dependent upon circumstances so it would be difficult to calculate a true median figure.

[Simpo Two]

Countdown said:

My guess would be before pension deductions. They are discretionary and in any case would vary from 0% to 100% up to £40k dependent upon circumstances so it would be difficult to calculate a true median figure.

Workplace pensions may not be optional https://www.gov.uk/workplace-pensions/joining-a-wo...

Too many variables/not well-enough defined parameters IMHO.

[Countdown]

Simpo Two said:

Workplace pensions may not be optional https://www.gov.uk/workplace-pensions/joining-a-wo...

They're always optional. You can always opt out. However HR will auto-enrol you, and keep auto re-enrolling you every 3 years so you have to be determined to stay out. The Guv'Mint hopes people will get fed up of opting out and just stay in due to laziness

[T6 vanman]

So how did they calculate the council tax??

[Puzzles]

Disposable income
Disposable income is arguably the most widely used household income measure. Disposable income is the amount of money that households have available for spending and saving after direct taxes (such as Income Tax, National Insurance and Council Tax) have been accounted for. It includes earnings from employment, private pensions and investments as well as cash benefits provided by the state.

I'd guess after pension deductions.