My Father was told 15 years ago that if he took his railroad pension that he couldn't file for Social Security so he hasn't gotten any Social Security for the last 15 years and now they are telling him that they can't even find his Social Security Number on record. Is there anyone that can help us

Hi. You say that they are telling your father that they can't find his Social Security number on record, but it's not clear who you mean by 'they'. In any case, your father is free to apply for Social Security benefits even if he's collecting Railroad Retirement (RR) benefits. But, if he does so the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) will offset his Tier 1 RR benefit dollar for dollar by the amount of his Social Security benefit. Therefore, it's generally only advantageous for someone who's drawing RR benefits to apply for Social Security benefits if their Social Security benefit amount would be higher than their Tier 1 RR rate.

Best, Jerry