Does railroad retirement annuity count as applying to social security (this is a question on the ss application). I collect railroad retirement annuity but I reach full retirement age and my ss is more than my rr annuity. I am not sure if I answer yes or no to that question. Is railroad annuity considered social security?

Hi. Social Security (SS) and Railroad Retirement (RR) are separate programs, but you can't be paid both benefits in full. Tier 1 of RR is basically intended as a replacement of SS, and the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) uses a person's earnings under both programs to calculate their tier 1 benefit rate. But, if a person files for both SS and RR benefits, then the RRB offsets the person's tier 1 benefit rate dollar for dollar by the amount of their SS benefit.

If a person is already collecting RR benefits, then filing for SS benefits is generally only advantageous if their SS benefit amount is higher than their tier 1 RR benefit rate. And, if it is and if the SS benefit is a retirement benefit based on their own earnings history, it is often more advantageous to wait until age 70 to claim the SS retirement benefit. SS retirement benefit rates grow by 8% per year for every year you wait to claim them from your full retirement age (FRA) until age 70.

Best, Jerry