What happens to the money I paid into Social Security prior to working for the Railroad? Are those contributions separate from my contributions to Railroad Retirement? Or will all be combined? By the way I worked for the Railroad for 17 years and am currently 54 years of age.
Hi,
I am presently married to a railroad retiree and am collecting the railroad spousal benefit. I am 69 and have been collecting the spousal benefit since I was 60. My husband and I have been married 10.5 years. I am contemplating a divorce and I need to know how the divorce will affect my social security. I will be losing the railroad spousal benefit, and thus dependent upon my own social security as my main source of income.
Will Social Security automatically certify my payments to the Railroad Retirement Board when I apply? I am the spouse of a retired railroad employee and currently draw Tier 1 and Tier 2 benefits from the RRB. I understand that I can apply at some point for my own Social Security which will be higher than the Tier 1 benefits. When I recently talked to a Social Security employee by phone, she did not know anything about this process and told me my benefit payment would come directly from SS. She was not familiar with certification to the RRB.
My deceased husband was a Railroad Retired clerk (38 yrs) when he passed 6 years ago. I am 64 reviewing my Social Security benefits to estimate when I can retire. My question is: Will I receive RRB Spousal Retirement benefits as well as my Social Security?
Hi,
I'm sorry for your loss.
I have worked the last 26 years paying into SS but early in my career I worked 22 years under RR retirement. If I retire at 70 (in a few months) my SS monthly payment will be higher than my Tier 1 RR by $440 a month. (I am currently collecting my RR retirement and half my Tier 2 payment). My question, since my SS monthly payment will be higher will I be able to collect my monthly SS payment and my Tier 2 RR retirement payment? Thank You
Hi,
My spouse is a retired railroad employee. I receive half of his pension. Now that I am 71, I signed up for my social security benefit on 02/12/2019. It was then I was advised payments would be retroactive for 6 months beginning with my birthday month. I also learned the RR Board needed the amount and each subsequent month certified and would be included on the RR benefit. Since this was retroactive and all RR benefits had been received for 2019, the RR would be paid back for what they paid. I received a W2 from both Social Security Administration and the railroad.
My husband retired at 65 with 38 years at Amtrak. I want to retire at 60 where I get approximately 1/2 of what he gets from Railroad Retirement. My question is can I do this for 7 years and then switch over to Social Security at age 67? I think I would still be able to get my tier 2 as well as social security?
Hi,
Yes, you can file for Railroad Retirement (RR) benefits without also being deemed to applying for Social Security benefits. You could then apply separately for Social Security benefits whenever to choose to do so.
I worked for the railroad for 12 years, then worked in local government for 23 years. Since I receive a spousal benefit through railroad retirement, the local Social Security office advised I am not eligible for any payment from them. The Railroad Retirement Board says I am only eligible for an additional $100 per month. Is that right? I’m not able to collect anything I’ve paid in to Social Security?
Hi,
I received an upfront payment from social security because when I filed they asked if I would like to receive back pay in leiyof an extra $35or $40 a month..and I did the calculations and said yes. Well after 5 months of fighting with them and no figures presented on paper, they finally gave me my money. They then told me as I was walking out the door I have to pay RRB back the monies I was receiving from them up until this time..it was labout 16 months of payments.
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,