[americanbychoice2]

You are talking to a now retired financial executive who had expertise in establishing pension plans.
Don't get so wrapped up in the minutae of BEA vs AGI.
If you are covered by a 401K plan, just look at your paycheck.
Your contributions are not included in your earnigs.
Sample: A worker makes $50 000 per annum and contributes $ 5000 into a 401K, his W2 will show earnings of $ 45 000.
It's actually very simple.

[irishjuggler]

Don't get so wrapped up in the minutae of BEA vs AGI...Your contributions are not included in your earnigs.

Again, that's for tax purposes. It's not relevant here. For their purposes, the BEA includes your 401(k) contributions in "wages and salaries." Yes, they add it in. The differences between BEA vs AGI may seem like "minutae" to you, but they're absolutely critical here because we're discussing the BEA's calculation of the savings rate, not the IRS's.