How does Railroad Retirement work?

74volts wrote:Yes...Thank you RTC...that is the answer I needed to hear!

CSX Mike

You are welcome.

So if my parents were married for twenty years and got divorced, my mother never remarried. My dad got hired on a shortline in 1994 and paid TIER1 and 2 and worked for shortline for 8-9 years. He now collects his RR retirement. My question is, would my mother be entitled to any money ? Thanks ! My dad did not work for the railroad while they were married. Does that make a difference ?

USMC Vet wrote:So if my parents were married for twenty years and got divorced, my mother never remarried. My dad got hired on a shortline in 1994 and paid TIER1 and 2 and worked for shortline for 8-9 years. He now collects his RR retirement. My question is, would my mother be entitled to any money ? Thanks ! My dad did not work for the railroad while they were married. Does that make a difference ?

It makes all the difference in the world.

USMC Vet wrote:So if my parents were married for twenty years and got divorced, my mother never remarried. My dad got hired on a shortline in 1994 and paid TIER1 and 2 and worked for shortline for 8-9 years. He now collects his RR retirement. My question is, would my mother be entitled to any money ? Thanks ! My dad did not work for the railroad while they were married. Does that make a difference ?

Contact the Railroad Retirement Board... http://rrb.gov/

Correct your mom would only be entitled to any retirement earned while they were married.

Bottom line....

I spent 30+ years earning big $$$ and paying the MAX into Social Security the whole time. I get annual statements from them now saying that if I wait until age 66 to retire (I'm 60 now), they estimate I'd get about $1950 per month.

A railroad clerk acquaintance who will retire at 60 a year from now said he'd be getting paid $3200/month based on his calculations using RRB information. His wife of 40 years will get an additional $1600 from RRB.

If I had it to do all over again, I'd DEFINITELY have gone railroading 30 years ago!!!! In short, how much do YOU want to have as income 30 years from now????

I don't know much about it, but from my 'day job' I know a little about the taxation.

Part of "Tier I" Railroad Retirement is considered equivalent to Social Security, and they attempt to keep that part "about" the same size as the corresponding Social Security; if you're getting both Social Security and Tier I RR, they do their best to make sure you're not "punished" for switching from an RR job to a non-RR job or vice versa, although it's done in a rather haphazard way.

The rest of Railroad Retirement is treated for tax purposes like a pension plan. By all accounts it's a pretty damn good pension plan, better than you can get in most industries.

Gadfly wrote:
Yep, I didnt make myself clear. I was married for 13 years before our divorce and my ex is entitled now.

Gadfly

A good friend of mine was married to this woman we called the "Yo-Yo". He had to transfer down south back in the early '80s to stay working for the railroad. She would move down with him then get home sick and move back to Michigan. This went on for quite afew years. Well he finally had enough and filed for divorce. She went back up north. Right before Christmas I drove him to the airport he wanted to see his kids. We sat at the bar I tried to talk him out of it seeing the divorce would of been final in January. Told him go after it was over. One thing I forgot to mention he was off on a work injury at the time. He went up there, I hadn't heard from him in a few weeks so I called dammit she was moving back. Turns out after he got a settlement from the railroad the very next day she went to the attorney and reopened the divorce. She got a new van, $600 a month child support, and $6000 cash. One thing she didn't do was count the time they were married. The marriage was over after 9 years 10 months. Whoop's.

bratkinson wrote:Bottom line....

I spent 30+ years earning big $$$ and paying the MAX into Social Security the whole time. I get annual statements from them now saying that if I wait until age 66 to retire (I'm 60 now), they estimate I'd get about $1950 per month.

A railroad clerk acquaintance who will retire at 60 a year from now said he'd be getting paid $3200/month based on his calculations using RRB information. His wife of 40 years will get an additional $1600 from RRB.

If I had it to do all over again, I'd DEFINITELY have gone railroading 30 years ago!!!! In short, how much do YOU want to have as income 30 years from now????

That is ONE reason I did go a-railroading 30 years ago! I couldn't see myself flopping around in Socialistic INsecurity when I retired. It turned out to be one of the few things I did right!


GF

Railroad Retirement the best kept secret. After 32 years I had to retire on a permanent disability. Being nervous would be putting it mildly. No clue as to what the future had in store. After all the waiting which can be up to one year mine was 9 months mostly because I didn't file till after being off for 3 1/2 months it was approved. Staying with the railroad and paying in the retirement all those years was the best thing that ever happened. Unlike Social Security I can live a comfortable life without having to depend on investments like a 401K. For those to young to think about retirement rest assure the rewards are there after a railroad carreer.

My husband works for Norfolk Southern and is five years younger than me. I am a teacher. I can retire via the Rule of 85 when I turn 55. (years of experience plus age equals 85) Can I start collecting railroad benefits when I turn sixty, or will I have to wait until my husband is sixty (with 30 years experience) and also retired? Thanks to anyone who can help!

rluvsdm wrote:My husband works for Norfolk Southern and is five years younger than me. I am a teacher. I can retire via the Rule of 85 when I turn 55. (years of experience plus age equals 85) Can I start collecting railroad benefits when I turn sixty, or will I have to wait until my husband is sixty (with 30 years experience) and also retired? Thanks to anyone who can help!

You cannot collect any Railroad Retirement benefits until your husband retires at age 60.

Hey guys this may have been answered previously so please bear with me. I am 43 years old (44 in Aug) right now I am doing the post offer checks with a hopeful start date at the REDI Center on July 5, Obviously I wont be working for the railroad for 30 years,Id like to retire between the ages of 60-65 so thats roughly 16-21 years... how will RR retirement benefit me over social security or am I just one of the unlucky ones who joined the RR to late in life. Thanks in advance

Birddude21 wrote:Hey guys this may have been answered previously so please bear with me. I am 43 years old (44 in Aug) right now I am doing the post offer checks with a hopeful start date at the REDI Center on July 5, Obviously I wont be working for the railroad for 30 years,Id like to retire between the ages of 60-65 so thats roughly 16-21 years... how will RR retirement benefit me over social security or am I just one of the unlucky ones who joined the RR to late in life. Thanks in advance

Go to the Railroad Retirement Board website it has a chart referring to full retirement age based on year of birth for those with less than 360 months (30 years) paying into the system. A person can retire with less than 30 years but at a reduced rate. Railroad Retirement consists of two parts Tier I is the equivelent of Social Security Tier II is the railroad pension. Add both these together it definitely would be better than SS even at a reduced rate.

www.rrb.gov

COEN77,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but based on the 60/30, can this man retire at 60 with less than 30 years, or would he be forced to go to 67 like Socialistic Insecurity? I don't know because I never had to think about it. Just wondering. When we hired out, the railroad wouldn't HIRE older workers until the age discrimination laws came into effect. I NEVER saw 40-50---even 60 y/o's trying to hire back then.
About 36 is the oldest ones I saw---except for retired military and they usually came in as management on Southern/NS.

GF