About Spousal benefit: My wife and I are still working. She did a file and suspend and I started receiving spousal benefit. When I inquired to Railroad Retirement Board about my retirement benefit estimate, they said that my RRB retirement benefit will be deducted by the amount that I receive for the spousal benefit. I thought that my retirement work service is separate from my wife's retirement work service

Hi,

Social Security and Railroad Retirement are separate entities, but interrelated. Railroad retirement benefits consist of 2 tiers. Tier 1 is roughly an equivalent of Social Security, and tier 2 is based strictly on railroad earnings. Tier 2 benefits are similar to a company pension in the private sector.

If you receive Social Security benefits and are also eligible for Railroad retirement benefits, your SS benefit is calculated under the normal rules. However, instead of paying you directly, Social Security 'certifies' your benefit to the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB). The RRB then determines your combined benefit due, and makes the payments to you. Your SS benefit will be offset against your railroad tier 1 benefit, and unless the SS benefit is higher than the tier 1 benefit, the total rate payable will be no higher than if you had filed for RR benefits only. In your case, though, the SS spousal benefits you receive prior to filing for RR benefits is an added bonus.

Best, Jerry