My husband worked for the railroad for 36 years, he is now retired and so am I. I turn 65 this year. How does receiving his pension affect my ability to attain my social security.

Hi,

If you're eligible for both Social Security (SS) benefits and Railroad Retirement (RR) benefits, your Social Security benefit rate is calculated without regard to any RR benefits for which you may be eligible. However, the Railroad Retirement Board would offset your Tier 1 RR benefit dollar for dollar by the amount of any SS benefits that you receive. Your SS benefits would not, however, affect any Tier 2 RR benefits for which you're eligible.

In other words, if you file for both SS & RR benefits you would be paid the higher of a) your SS benefit rate or b) your Tier 1 RR rate, plus c) your Tier 2 RR benefit rate.

Best, Jerry