Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Second Wind is completely free to use. There are no accounts, no subscriptions, and no ads.

No. Second Wind is an independent planning tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by CalPERS, CHP, CAL FIRE, CDCR, or any government agency. Only CalPERS can give you an official benefit estimate.

Everything you enter stays in your own browser, on your device. Nothing is sent to us or stored on a server — we can’t see your information. See the Privacy Policy for details.

Because your data lives only in your browser, use the Backup / Restore feature on the Profile page: download a backup file on one device, then restore it on another. That file is the only copy that leaves your browser, and only when you choose to create it.

Use “Clear all data” on the Profile page, or clear your browser’s site data. Both permanently remove everything you entered.

Second Wind uses simplified, publicly available formulas and the details you enter. Real benefits depend on your exact service record, final compensation, and CalPERS’ own calculations, so figures can differ. Treat everything here as an estimate and confirm with CalPERS before making decisions.

CHP (Bargaining Unit 5), CAL FIRE (Bargaining Unit 8), and CDCR (Bargaining Unit 6). Set your agency on the Profile page so formulas, final-pay rules, and job suggestions match your background.

It’s for a vested member weighing leaving before retirement eligibility. It compares three options for your CalPERS contributions — cash them out (with the tax and any early-withdrawal penalty itemized), roll them over and grow them, or leave them and draw a deferred pension later — and, above all, flags the retiree-health consequence most tools miss: under Gov. Code §22760(a), retiring more than 120 days after you separate permanently ends your CalPERS retiree health, dental, and vision eligibility, and years of service cannot cure it. Everything is a rough, educational estimate from public rules — confirm with CalPERS and a financial advisor before you separate, because a refund is irreversible.

It’s a weighted average of five factors — pension strength (30%), savings adequacy (25%), healthcare readiness (20%), budget alignment (15%), and time horizon (10%). The Readiness page shows the full breakdown, and the score updates automatically as you enter data across the app.

“Non-Social Security” describes your safety position (no SS tax withheld, no SS credits earned from this job — that’s why the higher cap applies). Social Security you earned from other work is separate and, since the 2025 WEP repeal, no longer reduced by your pension.

Because CalPERS sets those two things by different means, and only one of them can be calculated from outside.

The survivor continuance is statute. Gov. Code § 21624 pays an eligible survivor a percentage of your unmodified allowance for life — 50% for service not covered by Social Security, which is CHP, CAL FIRE and CDCR service in their safety classifications. Your employer pays it, and it is paid regardless of which payment option you elect. Second Wind computes it.

Your payment option’s reduction is actuarial. It is the actuarial equivalent of your unmodified allowance on your age and your beneficiary’s age at retirement, against the mortality tables the CalPERS board adopts (Gov. Code §§ 21471.1, 20013), and for a member with an eligible survivor it applies only to the part of the allowance above the continuance (§ 21475). CalPERS publishes no table of those factors — PUB 43 tells you to request a myCalPERS estimate — so Second Wind does not estimate one. Earlier versions of this app applied a flat percentage that had no source; that was removed. Request an estimate for the option you are considering and you can enter the figure beside the option tiles on the Pension page.

Two words worth keeping apart: your beneficiary is the person you name on your retirement application, and your eligible survivor is the spouse, registered domestic partner, minor child or dependent parent that § 21624 defines. They can be the same person or two different people — CalPERS’ own example is a child named as the Option 2 beneficiary while the spouse draws the continuance.

A different survivor benefit, and the one that applies if you die before you retire. Second Wind does not model it — every figure the app shows about death benefits is a post-retirement one — but every state member has it, and it is worth knowing it exists.

It pays flat dollars rather than a share of an allowance. Under Gov. Code § 21574.7, which covers all state employees on and after January 1, 2000, a surviving spouse caring for one qualifying child receives $1,500 a month, or $1,800 with two or more; children alone receive $750 (one child), $1,500 (two, split) or $1,800 (three or more, split); and a surviving spouse who has reached age 60 receives $750 a month. Its children’s payments run to age 22 — not the 18 that applies to the survivor continuance — and include stepchildren living with you.

It is offset, not stacked. Gov. Code § 21575 reduces the 1959 allowance in any month by the amount of another allowance or benefit the recipient is entitled to, so for a safety member whose death is industrial the special death benefit will usually dominate and leave the 1959 allowance reduced to little or nothing. That offset is the main reason a number for it here would mislead more often than it helped.

No. It’s an educational tool, not a substitute for professional guidance. Consult a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before making retirement decisions.

Yes. Second Wind is fully responsive and works on phones, tablets, and desktops. Your data is tied to the specific browser you use, so use Backup / Restore to carry it between devices.