I worked and paid into the Railroad 14 years. I worked and paid into ssa 50 years. I worked until age 66, my fra. I never collected from my ex. At age 80, my ex dies. I applied for a survivors benefit meeting all the qualifications. I worked 16 years AFTER I LEFT THE RAILROAD , MAKING GOOD MONEY AS A NURSE WITH LOTS OF OVERTIME. Railroad had denied me any overtime when I was there. According to ssa, my survivor award was to be $2,700 plus $6,000 back pay .The railroad took all this, including the $6,000 and made me a tier 11 and awarded me $77. Big deal! Now this was 1 1/2 years ago, I am now 82 and something doesn't smell right! Can anything be done?

Hi. My expertise is limited to Social Security (SS) benefits, and does not extend to Railroad Retirement (RR) benefits. Here is what I can tell you. If you claim both SS and RR benefits, the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) offsets your Tier 1 RR benefits dollar for dollar by the amount of your SS benefits.

I have no way of knowing whether or not your benefits have been calculated correctly, but if you believe that your Social Security benefit amount is wrong you can file an appeal (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/disability/appeal.html). The RR program also has an appeals process (https://rrb.gov/Resources/Appeals/AppealsProcess) if you believe that your RR benefits have been miscalculated.

Best, Jerry