I retired from the railroad and did contribute to ssi as well via other part-time work . I have contributed almost 23 years to ssi and currently although retired from railroad with pension am still working and have ssi deductions. I am also entitled to military retirement pay at 60. My question: If I accumulate 30 years of payment into SSI, will I then be entitled to receive payments ?

Hi,

You wouldn't need to pay into Social Security for 30 years to be able to qualify for benefits. As long as you have at least 40 quarters of coverage, or the equivalent of roughly 10 years of Social Security covered work, you can qualify for Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62.

However, if you're drawing Railroad Retirement (RR) benefits and you file for Social Security benefits, the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) will offset your Tier 1 RR benefits dollar for dollar by the amount of your Social Security benefit. Therefore, if you're drawing RR benefits it would likely only be advantageous to also apply for Social Security benefits if your Social Security benefit rate is higher than your Tier 1 RR benefit rate.

Best, Jerry