Retirement Planning
Know what your retirement rests on, then work the levers you control.
At a glance
- Know your formula and what it pays at each age you could retire.
- Plan the years before Medicare: health coverage and the account that carries them.
- Decide the survivor option on purpose, priced against life insurance.
- Collect every dollar of employer money while you work.
Retirement planning is about turning a pension, savings and a health plan into a paycheck that lasts as long as you do. For public safety and military families the pension does most of the work, which makes the decisions around it the ones that matter.
Reviewed by Theron Morgan, CEO and founder, Avidity Capital Inc., a registered investment adviser, on 2026-10-07.
What this step covers
Three things decide a retirement: what the pension pays and when, what your savings add on top of it, and what health care costs before Medicare. This step works through each with your own numbers.
The biggest single decision is the survivor option at retirement. It sets what your spouse or partner lives on if you die first, and it usually cannot be changed later.
For Hanford PD officers
You are in CalPERS local safety. Classic members are on {{hanford_hpoa_mou_2025_2027.classic_formula_name|text||the classic safety formula}} and PEPRA members, first hired on or after {{hanford_hpoa_mou_2025_2027.pepra_hire_date|date||the PEPRA start date}}, are on {{hanford_hpoa_mou_2025_2027.pepra_formula_name|text||the PEPRA safety formula}}. Your pension is years of service, times a benefit factor set by your age at retirement, times final compensation.
Under the MOU, retiree medical is funded by officers only, the City matches deferred comp up to {{hanford_hpoa_mou_2025_2027.deferred_comp_match_per_pay_period|money||the amount set in MOU section 2.31}} a paycheck for this MOU term, and unused sick leave converts to service credit at CalPERS retirement. Each has its own guide below.
For NAS Lemoore sailors
Your retirement system is either the Blended Retirement System or Legacy High-3, depending on when you entered service and whether you opted in to BRS. Legacy High-3 pays a larger pension multiplier and has no government TSP contribution. BRS pays a smaller pension multiplier and adds a government TSP contribution of up to {{tsp_contribution_limits.government_match_max_pct|percent}} of basic pay.
Under BRS, contribute at least enough to collect the full government contribution. The reference page on BRS and Legacy High-3 explains the two systems in plain words.
What the app does in this step
The Retirement tab projects your pension from the formula you confirm and the service and pay you enter; myCalPERS stays the official source for CalPERS members. The plan carries a monthly health care cost on top of your spending and grows it faster than other prices. The survivor scenario shows what your household keeps if you die first, with and without a survivor option or SBP. If you plan to retire early, the Retirement tab notes that 457(b) dollars have no early-withdrawal penalty, while most other workplace plans and IRAs do.
Guides for this step
Ask your adviser. The pension election and the survivor option are decisions you make once. An Avidity adviser can run both with your own numbers before you sign.
Next step
See your own numbers first. The free reality-check needs no account and no card.
This page is education, not individualized investment, tax, legal or insurance advice. It names no products, funds or allocations and carries no client stories. Where a document or a policy is needed, an estate attorney or a licensed insurance agent is the person who prepares it. Avidity Capital Inc. drafts no legal documents and receives no commission or referral fee from insurance, estate attorneys, mortgage lenders or real estate agents. Its compensation is the member's subscription and, for members who choose it, an advisory fee for managing assets; see Form CRS and Form ADV Part 2A. Avidity Capital Inc. is a registered investment adviser.