discretionary income

noun

: income that is left after paying for things that are essential, such as food and housing
She has enough discretionary income to pay for a nice vacation each year.

Examples of discretionary income in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Payments on undergraduate loans will be capped at 5% of discretionary income, down from 10% now. Adriana Morga and Collin Binkley, Quartz, 18 Mar. 2024 Borrowers with undergraduate student debt pay 5% of their discretionary income, down from 10% or 15% in other plans. Journal Sentinel, 8 Apr. 2024 Right now, monthly payments are designed to be 10% of an undergraduate borrower’s discretionary income: The Education Department will cut that to 5% in July. Andrew Sheeler, Sacramento Bee, 26 Feb. 2024 Monthly loan payments are currently 10% of the borrower's discretionary income, but that will decrease to 5% this summer. Haley Bemiller, The Enquirer, 23 Feb. 2024 Next summer, payments on undergraduate loans under SAVE will be halved — from 10% of discretionary income to 5%. Nerdwallet, Hartford Courant, 7 Jan. 2024 Not yet clear is how millions of people suddenly having less discretionary income might affect the economy. Time, 30 Sep. 2023 The company said Wednesday its customers have less discretionary income. Anne D'innocenzio, Fortune, 15 Nov. 2023 Though the rate at which prices are rising has eased significantly, the overall increase in prices is starting to weigh on consumers, limiting the amount of discretionary income at their disposal. J. Edward Moreno, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'discretionary income.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near discretionary income

Cite this Entry

“Discretionary income.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discretionary%20income. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!