Maybe you're living the good life now -- grocery delivery, takeout on repeat, the kind of spending that doesn't require checking your bank app first. Or maybe you're playing the long game -- budgeting, investing, skipping the daily lattes -- hoping it all pays off when retirement rolls around.

Either way, the goal's the same: to retire comfortably, maybe even with a taste of the upper class.

But what does that actually take? More specifically, how much does the average upper-class household really have set aside for retirement?

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It's not just about income -- though that's part of it. According to Pew Research, an upper-class household of three earns at least $256,920. But income alone won't carry you through retirement. That's where net worth -- and retirement savings -- take over.

A New York Times analysis shows upper-class families typically have a 3:1 wealth-to-income ratio, meaning that $256,000 income translates to around $770,760 in net worth.

And according to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances:

So whether you define "upper class" by income or wealth, the bar is high -- and rising.

Net worth can include a lot -- your house, your brokerage account, maybe even a chunk of that side business your cousin swears is "about to blow up." But when it comes to what's specifically earmarked for retirement, the numbers start to look a little more grounded.

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That's a big drop, and a good reminder: being "upper class" doesn't always mean you're sitting on millions in a retirement account.

Put that next to the median U.S. household, which has about $87,000 saved, and the picture gets clearer. Overall, the average upper-class retirement nest egg likely falls somewhere between $400,000 and $500,000 -- solid, for sure, but maybe not as sky-high as you'd assumed.