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 my social security be reduced since I started collecting the railroad spousal benefit ay age 60, or will my social security be basically what I would receive at my present age? Thank you.

Hi,

No, the fact that you've been drawing Railroad Retirement (RR) benefits wouldn't have any bearing on the calculation of your Social Security benefits. If you delay collecting Social Security benefits after reaching full retirement age (FRA) you can still earn delayed retirement credits (DRC) until age 70 to increase your Social Security retirement benefit rate even if you're drawing RR benefits during that time.

I'm not an expert on RR benefits, so I don't know whether or not you could continue receiving RR benefits as a divorced spouse. If you do, though, and if you apply for Social Security benefits, the Railroad Retirement Board will offset your Tier 1 RR benefits dollar for dollar by the amount of your Social Security benefits.

Best, Jerry