Stung, what it means is that I'm on the hook to potentially pay him spousal support from now until he's 62 and able to collect Social Security, if he can't work and support himself due to a serious health issue or injury or other disability. Alcoholism is considered a serious health issue in CA.
I'm 45. He's 51. Which means that I have another 9+ years ahead of me where I'm exposed unless I can get him to waive his right to go after me for spousal support.
The calculations are very complex and take into consideration all sources of income (rental income, investment income, etc), but the bottom line is that if in 5 years he's got cancer and can't work, and I'm making $50,000/year and barely scraping by, the court can order me to pay him support. If in 5 years he's not working and I'm making $250,000 per year, the court will absolutely award him support.
In CA, if you have a "marriage of long duration" (10+ years), the courts can reserve jurisdiction over future spousal support. As in pretty much open ended. The only thing that stops it is re-marriage. In other words, if you have a long duration marriage, you can potentially be on the hook to each other for years and years and years. It has nothing to do with what you were making when you divorced. It (along with other things like child support, custody etc) can be revisited annually or even more often, as circumstances change.