Dear Larry,
Can I convert my RR retirement benefit to all Social Security benefit? I fell that Railroad Retirement has cost me approximately $19,000 year by subtracting my Social Security benefits from my RR retirement pension. Unlike the RRB, I don't feel like I am "double dipping" as I paid into RR retirement and Social Security during two separate timelines without any overlap.
Thanks for considering this,
Mike

Hi Mike,

I'm not an expert on Railroad Retirement (RR) benefits, so I don't what options you have with regard to your RR benefits. You couldn't actually convert your RR benefits to Social Security (SS) benefits, though. You could apply separately for Social Security benefits, but since you're drawing RR benefits if you qualify for Social Security benefits the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) would offset your Tier 1 RR benefits dollar for dollar by the amount of your SS benefits. So, unless your SS benefit rate is higher than your Tier 1 rate you probably wouldn't gain anything by filing for Social Security benefits.

I should add that the reason RRB offsets Tier 1 RR benefits by the amount of any SS benefits that a person receives is because Tier 1 RR benefits are designed a substitute for Social Security benefits (https://www.rrb.gov/cal_rr_ann/Benefit_Info/Component_of_a_regular_annuity). Any Social Security taxed earnings that a person has are included when calculating their Tier 1 RR benefit rate, so if a person was able to draw both SS benefits and a full Tier 1 RR benefit they would be receiving 2 benefits based at least in part on the same earnings.

Best, Jerry