"Blackballing" - How to Get Around it?

I understand how RRB works and would much rather have it than SS. I think even Tier 1 pays considerably more than SS. Not too long ago a co-worker attended an RRB retirement seminar and brought some of the handbooks to work, I used the formula to conservatively calculate my estimated retirement and it came out to roughly $3700 per month in todays dollars. That's a hell of a lot better than my folks are getting from SS, and they were well paid white collar workers. If you think SS is a better deal, well, you must be a few boxcars short of a train.

If c_e leaves the industry with only 10 years of railroad service, he is not going to get a full RRB annuity. You take pretty substantial penalties for retiring with less than 30 years and even more if you do so before turning 65-67. If he went out and got another job that paid into SS for the 20 years until he can retire he would probably earn at least as much from SS as he can expect to from RRB. He should really contact his nearest RRB office and work the numbers with them. I'd be interested to hear what they are as well.

Are white collar workers on a railroad also eligible for RRB? Would a civil engineer or someone who works in the business department recieve RRB benefits?

Trains wrote:Are white collar workers on a railroad also eligible for RRB? Would a civil engineer or someone who works in the business department recieve RRB benefits?

Yes.

If you are a railroad employee, go to the RRB web site at http://rrb.gov/default.asp In the upper right hand corner there's a link to "Online Benefit Services - Mainline". ("Mainline" is their name for the page, it does not mean you had to work for a mainline railroad). There is a process there whereby you enter some personal data. They will set you up with an account - they will send you, via US Mail, a password good for one-time use. You then can log on and set up your own personal password which will get you on any time in the future.

Once you have your account, you can estimate your retirement benefits based on how much you have paid in. It shows your annual earnings, both under RRA and SS, from when you first started working. (Yup, even that summer you were 17 and made $187 at the ice cream store).

This is the best part - you can also enter FUTURE earnings and it will calculate how that changes your benefit. Figure to work 11 more years, at $50,000 a year? Put that in. Figure you'll make $2000 a year for 4 years under SS? Put that in! It will adjust your retirement benefit and tell you what it will be. Got a wife? Learn what HER spouse benefit will be. Neat site!

To answer a question above, if you are an employee of a common carrier RR in the US you are under Railroad Retirement. It may NOT apply if you work on the railroad of a factory, or on some railroad which is entirely owned by an industry for their products alone - for example I have been told one of the iron ore roads - Erie Mining? Reserve Mining? - up in Minnesota is not under RRA although I can't guarantee that's accurate. But if they're drawing a railroad salary, top brass come under the RRA just as the newest laborer in the track gang does.

Are white collar workers on a railroad also eligible for RRB? Would a civil engineer or someone who works in the business department recieve RRB benefits?

Eligible? I would expand on LCJ's answer by saying, "you ain't got a choice."

Delta, I don't think you can say you don't get the "full annuity" if you run short of 30 years... your annuity is bigger with 35 years than 31. But you do get screwed if you miss milestone dates- 30 years is the big 'un. I worked with a guy who had 29 years and 9 months and got downsized. he was not a happy camper... fortunately he eventually got a shortline job so went back to accruing his time.

Cowford wrote:"you ain't got a choice."

Correct, of course.

The main difference with not having 360 months (30 yrs) in is in when (what age) you can get the annuity, reduced or full.

Cowford wrote:Delta, I don't think you can say you don't get the "full annuity" if you run short of 30 years... your annuity is bigger with 35 years than 31. But you do get screwed if you miss milestone dates- 30 years is the big 'un. I worked with a guy who had 29 years and 9 months and got downsized. he was not a happy camper... fortunately he eventually got a shortline job so went back to accruing his time.

Umm, don't look now, but the story of your co-worker just proved my point. Thank you very much.

Delta, did you swallow a lot of aggression when you were growing up?

Even if I did, you got a problem with that?!? Well, do ya'?!?

Cowford wrote:Delta, did you swallow a lot of aggression when you were growing up?

Aggression? Is that like prozac?