Here’s what being ‘super wealthy’ in retirement really means — plus how does your nest egg stack up against the top 1%, 5% and 10% of US retirees?

Schmidt argues that household net worth is more appropriate than individual net worth for this analysis because household status is usually set by age 65. He says you can worry less about day-to-day financial planning and start thinking about wealth planning at this level of wealth.

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Breaking down wealth demographics

According to the SCF report, it takes a net worth of $16.7 million or more for those over 65 to be considered super wealthy.

But that represents just the top one percent of American retirees. Here’s how all the other categories are broken down, including the associated net worth for each category:

• Super wealthy (99th percentile): $16.7 million
• Wealthy (95th percentile): $3.2 million
• Well off (90th percentile): $1.9 million
• Middle class (50th percentile): $281,000
• Poor (20th percentile): $10,000
• Insolvent (less than the 20th percentile): $0

The people in the top categories were most often people who “saved early, saved often and saved a lot,” says Schmidt.

How to build wealth

So, how can you catch up if your net worth isn’t on track to make you “super wealthy” — or, at the very least, as wealthy as you’d like to be at age 65?

According to the SCF report, it takes a net worth of $16.7 million or more for those over 65 to be considered “super wealthy. People at this level “engage in just about anything they want to engage in,” says Schmidt. These people travel extensively, pursue esoteric interests, and own expensive assets like wineries.

But if you’re not quite there yet, you can start by saving money.

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With some extra cash on hand, you can start building up your emergency fund. You’ll want to save at least $1,000, but many financial advisers recommend that an emergency fund cover three to six months of your expenses. This can help weather financial bumps in the road without borrowing money or tapping into your retirement funds.

You’ll also want to pay off your non-mortgage debt and make sure you’re contributing what you can to maximize any employer matching of your 401(k) if that’s something you’re fortunate enough to have through work.

If not, you might consider opting to put your retirement savings into a shinier savings vehicle — a gold IRA.

By opening a gold IRA with the help of American Hartford Gold, you benefit from the tax advantages of a traditional IRA alongside the inflation-hedging properties of gold, so your retirement fund is cushioned amidst economic uncertainty.