U.S. Railroad Retirement Board
 

RAILROAD 
 RETIREMENT 

and SURVIVOR 

BENEFITS 
U.S. Railroad Retirement Board 

MISSION STATEMENT
 

The Railroad Retirement Board’s mission is to administer 

retirement/survivor and unemployment/sickness insurance benefit 

programs for railroad workers and their families under the Railroad 

Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. 

These programs provide income protection during old age and 

in the event of disability, death or temporary unemployment and 

sickness. The Railroad Retirement Board also administers aspects 

of the Medicare program and has administrative responsibilities 

under the Social Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code. 

In carrying out its mission, the Railroad Retirement Board 

will pay benefits to the right people, in the right amounts, in a 

timely manner, and will take appropriate action to safeguard our 

customers’ trust funds. The Railroad Retirement Board will treat 

every person who comes into con tact with the agency with courtesy 

and concern, and respond to all inquiries promptly, accurately and 

clearly. 
INTRODUCTION
 

The Railroad Retirement Act is a Federal law that provides 

retirement and disability annuities for qualified railroad employees, spouse annuities for their wives or husbands, and survivor 

benefits for the families of deceased employees who were insured 

under the Act. The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) administers these benefit programs, as well as the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, and has adminis trative responsibilities under 

the Social Security Act for certain benefit payments and railroad 

workers’ Medicare coverage. 

This booklet describes the retirement and disability annuities 

provided for employees under the Railroad Retirement Act, and 

the benefits available to their spouses and survivors. Medicare and 

unemployment-sickness insurance benefits are described in separate publications. 

The information in this booklet supersedes earlier editions. If 

you have any questions about the information in this booklet, or 

if you want one of the RRB’s publications on Medicare or unemployment and sickness insurance benefits, call the RRB toll-free 

at 1-877-772-5772. Field office representatives can provide you 

with informational materials, explain your rights, and answer any 

questions you may have. Cities with these offices are listed on 

page 59 of this booklet. 

In addition, through automated menus available 24 hours a 

day, you can find the address for the fi eld office serving your area 

and listen to special announcements about the agency’s benefit 

programs. You can also request a replacement Medicare card, a 

letter showing your current monthly benefit rate, a duplicate tax 

statement for the most recently completed tax year, or a statement 

of creditable railroad service and compensation. Information on 

unemployment-sickness claims is also available. 
The services listed above, and others, are available through 

Benefit Online Services at RRB.gov. Employees with online accounts can log in to use web-based features for obtaining annuity estimates, applying for or claiming unemployment benefits, 

claiming sickness benefits, viewing their Railroad Unemployment 

Insurance Act account statement, and reviewing their service and 

compensation history. All RRB publications covering benefi ts and 

other topics of interest are also available at RRB.gov. 

This booklet is issued for the purpose of general 

information. Certain limitations, exceptions, 

and special cases are not covered. 
CONTENTS
 

Page 

EMPLOYEE AND SPOUSE ANNUITIES 

Basic Service Requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
 

Age and Service, Disability, and Supplemental Annuities . . . . . . 2
 

Current Connection Requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
 

Spouse Annuities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
 

Employee and Spouse Annuity Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
 

Two-Tier Annuities and Dual Benefits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
 

- Employees with Railroad Retirement and Social Security. . . . . . 10
 

- Employees with Public, Non-Profit, or Foreign Pensions . . . . . . 12
 

- Workers’ Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
 

Spouses with Dual Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
 

- Social Security Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
 

- Public Pensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
 

- Employee Annuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
 

Minimum Guaranty for Employee and Spouse Annuities . . . . . . . 14
 

Cost-of-Living Increases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
 

Working After Retirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
 

- Disability Work Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
 

When Annuities Stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
 

SURVIVOR BENEFITS 

Types of Survivor Benefits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
 

Survivor Annuity Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
 

Survivor Annuity Tiers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
 

Survivors with Dual Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
 

- Social Security Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
 

- Public Pensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
 

- Employee Annuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
 

Cost-of-Living Increases in Survivor Annuities . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
 

Work and Earnings Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
 

When Survivor Payments Stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
 
Page 

Lump-Sum Death Benefits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
 

- Residual Lump-Sum Payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
 

RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR INFORMATION 

Applying for an Annuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
 

Monitoring Retirement and Survivor Benefit Payments. . . . . . . . 35
 

Right of Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
 

Garnishments/Property Settlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
 

If Requirements for Benefits are not Met . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
 

Railroad Retirement Taxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
 

Dual Tax Payments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
 

- Dual Railroad Retirement-Social Security Taxes . . . . . . . . . . 39
 

- Separation/Severance Allowances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
 

Federal Income Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
 

Service and Earnings Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
 

- Military Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
 

- Form BA-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
 

RAILROAD RETIREMENT ANNUITY
 

FORMULA COMPONENTS
 

Employee Retirement Annuity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
 

- Tier I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
 

- Tier II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
 

- Amount of Vested Dual Benefit Payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
 

- Supplemental Annuity Formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
 

Spouse Annuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
 

- Tier I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
 

- Tier II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
 

Dual Annuities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
 

Survivor Annuity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
 

- Tier I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
 

- Tier II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
 

RRB FIELD OFFICES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
 
EMPLOYEE AND
 

SPOUSE ANNUITIES
 

BASIC SERVICE REQUIREMENT
 

The basic requirement for a regular employee annuity is 

10 years (120 months) of creditable railroad service or 5 years 

(60 months) of creditable railroad service if such service was 

performed after 1995. Service months need not be consecutive, 

and, in some cases, military service may be counted as railroad 

service. 

Credit for a month of railroad service is given for every 

month in which an employee had some compensated service 

for an employer covered by the Railroad Retirement Act, even 

if only one day’s service is performed in the month. (However, 

local lodge compensation earned after 1974 is disregarded 

for any calendar month in which it is less than $25.) Under 

certain circumstances, additional months of service may be 

deemed. 

Covered employers include railroads engaged in interstate 

commerce and some of their subsidiaries, rail road associations, 

and national railway labor organizations. 

Railroad retirement benefits are based on months of service 

and earnings credits. Earnings are creditable up to certain annual maximums on the amount of compensation subject to railroad retirement taxes. 

1
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

AGE AND SERVICE, DISABILITY,
 

AND SUPPLEMENTAL ANNUITIES
 

An AGE AND SERVICE ANNUITY can be paid to: 

► Employees with 30 or more years of creditable 

service. They are eligible for regular annuities based on 

age and service the first full month they are age 60. Early 

retirement reductions are applied if the employee first 

became eligible for a 60/30 annuity July 1, 1984, or later 

and retired at ages 60 or 61 before 2002. 

► Employees with 10-29 years of creditable service, or 

5-9 years, if at least 5 years were after 1995. They are 

eligible for regular annuities based on age and service the 

first full month they are age 62. Early retirement annuity 

reductions are applied to annuities awarded before full 

retirement age, which ranges from age 65 for those born 

before 1938 to age 67 for those born in 1960 or later, the 

same as under social security. Reduced annuities are still 

payable at age 62 but the maximum reduction will be 30 

percent rather than 20 percent by the year 2022. The tier II 

portion of an annuity (as defined on page 9) is not reduced 

beyond 20 percent if the employee had any creditable 

railroad service before August 12, 1983. (See pages 45-49 

for a detailed explanation of age reductions.) 

An annuity based on age cannot be paid until the employee 

stops railroad employment, files an application, and gives up any 

rights to return to work for a railroad employer. 

2
 
Employee and Spouse Annuities 

A DISABILITY ANNUITY can be paid for: 

► TOTAL DISABILITY, at any age, if an employee is disabled 

for all regular work and has at least 10 years (120 months) 

of creditable railroad service. Employ ees with 5-9 years of 

creditable railroad service, if at least 5 years were performed 

after 1995, may qualify for tier I only (as defined on page 9) 

before retirement age on the basis of total disability if they 

also meet certain social security earnings requirements. An 

age reduced tier II amount would be payable at age 62. 

TOTAL DISABILITY means a physical or mental disability that 

prevents any regular employment. 

► OCCUPATIONAL DISABILITY, at age 60, if an employee has 

at least 10 years of railroad service or at any age if the employee has at least 20 years (240 months) of service, when 

the employee is disabled for his or her regular railroad occupation. An annuity based on occupa tional disability, rather 

than total disability, also requires a current connection with 

the railroad industry. 

OCCUPATIONAL DISABILITY means an employee is disabled for 

his or her regular railroad occupation (generally, the job he or she 

worked the longest in the last 5 years) and the condition is expected to last at least 12 months or longer. 

A 5-month waiting period beginning with the month after the 

month of the onset of disability is required before any disability 

annuity payments can begin. 

An employee can be in compensated service while fi ling a 

disability annuity application as long as the com pensated service 

is not active service and terminates within 90 days from the date 

of filing. However, in order for a supplemental annuity to be paid 

by the RRB, or for an eligible spouse to begin receiving annuity 

3
 
 

RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

payments, a disabled annuitant under full retirement age must 

relinquish employment rights. 

A SUPPLEMENTAL ANNUITY can be paid at: 

► Age 60, if the employee has at least 30 years of

 creditable railroad service.
 

► Age 65, if the employee has 25-29 years of 

creditable railroad service.
 

In addition to the service requirements, a current connection 

with the railroad industry is required for all supplemental annuities. An employee must also be entitled to receive a railroad retirement age and service or disability annuity before a supplemental 

annuity can be paid. Eligibility is further limited to employees 

who had at least one month of creditable rail service before October 1981. 

CURRENT CONNECTION REQUIREMENT 

An employee who worked for a railroad in at least 12 months 

in the 30 months immediately preceding the month his or her railroad retirement annuity begins will meet the current connection 

requirement for a supplemen tal annuity, occupational disability 

annuity, or the survivor benefits described later in this booklet. (If 

the employee died before retirement, railroad service in at least 

12 months in the 30 months before the month of death will meet 

the current connection requirement for the purpose of paying survivor benefits.) 

If an employee does not qualify on this basis, but has 12 service months in an earlier 30-month period, he or she may still 

meet the current connection requirement. This alternative gener4
 
Employee and Spouse Annuities 

ally applies if the employee did not have any regular employment 

outside the railroad industry after the end of the last 30-month 

period which included 12 months of railroad service and before 

the month the annu ity begins or the month of death. Full or parttime work for a nonrailroad employer in the interval between the 

end of the last 30-month period including 12 months of rail road 

service and the month an employee’s annuity begins, or the month 

of death if earlier, can break a current con nection. 

Self-employment in an unincorporated business will not break 

a current connection; however, self-employment can break a current connection if the business is incorpo rated. 

Working for certain U.S. Government agencies (Department 

of Transportation, National Transportation Safety Board, Surface 

Transportation Board, National Mediation Board, Transportation 

Security Administration, and the RRB) will not break a current 

connection. State employment with the Alaska Railroad, as long 

as that railroad remains an entity of the State of Alaska, will not 

break a current connection. Also, railroad service in Canada for a 

Canadian railroad will neither break nor preserve a current connection. 

A current connection can also be maintained, for purposes of 

supplemental and survivor annuities, but not for an occupational 

disability annuity, if the employee completed 25 years of railroad 

service, was involuntarily terminated without fault from his or 

her last job in the railroad industry, and did not thereafter decline 

an offer of employment in the same class or craft in the railroad 

industry, regardless of the distance to the new position. 

A termination of railroad service is considered volun tary unless there was no choice available to the individual to remain in 

5
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

service. Generally, where an employee has no option to remain 

in the service of his or her railroad employer, the termination of 

the employment is considered involuntary, regardless of whether 

the employee does or does not receive a separation allowance. 

However, each case is decided by the RRB on an individual 

basis. This exception to the normal current connection requirements became effective October 1, 1981, but only for employees 

still living on that date who left the rail industry on or after October 1, 1975, or who were on leave of absence, on furlough, or 

absent due to injury on October 1, 1975. 

Once a current connection is established at the time the railroad retirement annuity begins, an employee never loses it no 

matter what kind of work is performed thereafter. 

SPOUSE ANNUITIES 

The age requirements for a spouse annuity depend on the employee’s age and date of retirement and the employ ee’s years of 

railroad service. Benefits can be paid to eligible spouses in samesex marriages. 

► If a retired employee with 30 years of service is age 60, 

the employee’s spouse is also eligible for an annuity the 

first full month the spouse is age 60. Certain early retirement reductions are applied if the employee fi rst became 

eligible for a 60/30 annuity July 1, 1984, or later and retired 

at ages 60 or 61 before 2002. If the employee was awarded 

a disability annuity, has attained age 60 and has 30 years of 

service, the spouse can receive an unre duced annuity the 

first full month she or he is age 60, regardless of whether 

the employee annuity began before or after 2002 as long as 

the spouse’s annuity beginning date is aft er 2001. 

6
 
Employee and Spouse Annuities 

► If a retired employee with less than 30 years of service 

is age 62, the employee’s spouse is also eligible for an annuity the first full month the spouse is age 62. Early retirement 

reductions are applied to the spouse annuity if the spouse 

retires prior to her or his full retirement age. Full retirement 

age for a spouse is gradually rising to age 67, just as for an 

employee, depending on the year of birth. Reduced benefits 

are still payable at age 62, but the maxi mum reduction will 

be 35 percent rather than 25 percent by the year 2022. The 

tier II portion of a spouse annuity (as defined on page 9) is 

not reduced beyond 25 percent if the employee had any creditable railroad service before August 12, 1983. 

► A spouse of an employee receiving an age and service 

annuity (or a spouse of a disability annuitant who is otherwise eligible for an age and service annuity) is eligible 

for a spouse annuity at any age if caring for the employee’s 

unmarried child, and the child is under age 18. The spouse 

is also eligible if caring for the employee’s disabled child of 

any age who became disabled before age 22. 

The employee must have been married to the spouse for at 

least 1 year, unless the spouse is the natural parent of their child; 

the spouse was eligible or potentially eligible for a railroad retirement widow(er)’s, parent’s, or disabled child’s annuity in the 

month before marrying the employee; or the spouse was previously married to the employee and received a spouse annuity. 

A spouse of an employee is not eligible for railroad retirement 

benefits solely on the spouse’s own disability. 

An annuity may also be payable to the divorced spouse 

of a retired employee if their marriage lasted for a period of 

at least 10 years immediately before the date the divorce be7
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

came fi nal, both have attained age 62 for a full month, and the 

divorced spouse is not currently married. The amount of a divorced spouse’s annuity is, in effect, equal to what social security would pay in the same situation and therefore less than the 

amount of the spouse annuity otherwise payable (tier I only). A 

divorced spouse can receive an annuity even if the employee 

has not retired, provided they have been divorced for a period 

of not less than 2 years, the employee and former spouse are 

at least age 62, and the employee is fully insured under the Social Security Act using combined railroad and social security 

earnings. Also, a court-ordered partition payment may be paid 

even if the employee is not entitled to an annuity provided that 

the employee has 10 years of railroad service or 5 years after 

1995 and both the employee and former spouse are 62. 

EMPLOYEE AND SPOUSE ANNUITY ESTIMATES 

Railroad employees with RRB online accounts can get estimates of future annuities for themselves and their spouses by 

visiting the Benefit Online Services section of RRB.gov. Instructions for establishing an online account are available by 

clicking on the link for requesting a Password Request Code 

(PRC) in that same section. Estimates are based on service and 

earnings records maintained by the RRB and show the earliest 

date the employee can receive a full annuity and, if applicable, 

the earliest date he or she can receive a reduced annuity. 

Employees can also contact any RRB field office to request 

an approximate estimate or to schedule an appointment for individual pre-retirement counseling, which is available in-person 

or over the phone. Estimates can only be furnished for employees with at least 10 years of railroad service, or 5 years of service 

after 1995; it is not possible to provide a precise amount if the 

8
 
Employee and Spouse Annuities 

employee is not currently eligible. 

The tables on the next page show (1) fiscal year 2017 annuity 

awards to 30-year employees retiring before full retirement age 

and (2) fiscal year 2017 annuity awards to employees with an average of less than 30 years of service. 

TWO-TIER ANNUITIES AND DUAL BENEFITS 

Regular railroad retirement annuities are calculated under a 

two-tier formula. The annuity formula compo nents for employees 

and spouses are described in the sec tion on formulas at the back 

of this booklet. 

The first tier is based on railroad retirement credits and any 

social security credits an employee has acquired. The amount of 

the first tier is calculated using social security formulas, but with 

railroad retirement age and service requirements. 

The second tier is based on railroad retirement cred its only, 

and may be compared to the retirement benefits paid over and 

above social security benefits to workers in other industries. 

An additional amount may also be payable as part of the regular annuity if an employee had at least 10 years of railroad service 

and acquired sufficient quarters of cov erage for an insured status 

under the Social Security Act before 1975 and also met certain 

vesting requirements. 

Employees with Railroad Retirement and Social Security 

If a retired or disabled railroad retire ment annuitant is also 

awarded social security benefits, the Social Security Administration determines the amount of the social security benefi t due. The 

RRB then issues a combined monthly benefit payment after the 

(continued on page 11) 9 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

Table 1. Fiscal Year 2017 Annuity Awards to

30-Year Employees Retiring Before Full Retirement Age 

AVERAGE 

AWARD 

AVERAGE 

YEARS OF 

SERVICE 

Employee $4,079 37.2 

Employee and spouse $5,701 37.4 

NOTE.--For employees with at least 25 years of service and a current connection, 

a supplemental annuity may be payable. The supplemental annuity amount is 

$23 plus $4 for each year of service over 25 years, up to a maximum of $43 for 

employees with 30 or more years of service. Figures in the tables on this page are 

monthly averages and include supplemental annuity amounts. 

Table 2. Fiscal Year 2017 Annuity Awards 

Based on Service Averaging Less than 30 Years 

AVERAGE 

AWARD 

AVERAGE 

YEARS OF 

SERVICE 

Employee full retirement age 

or over $2,557 21.3 

Employee full retirement age 

or over and spouse $3,631 23.4 

Employee under full retirement 

age with less than 30 years of 

service $1,845 15.9 

Employee under full retirement 

age with less than 30 years of 

service and spouse $2,549 16.2 

Employee retiring because 

of disability $2,726 20.9 

10
 
Employee and Spouse Annuities 

railroad retirement annuity has been reduced by the amount of the 

social security benefit. 

The tier I portion of an employee annuity is based on his 

or her combined railroad retirement and social security credits, 

figured under social security formulas, and approx imates what 

social security would pay if railroad work were covered by that 

system. It is reduced by the amount of any actual social security 

benefi t paid on the basis of the employee’s nonrailroad employment in order to prevent a duplication of benefits based on social 

security covered earnings. The tier I amount is also reduced in 

the event a social security benefit is payable to the employee 

on the basis of another person’s earnings. This reduction follows principles of social security law which limit payment to 

the higher of any two or more benefits payable to an individual 

at one time. An annuitant is required to advise the RRB if any 

benefits are received directly from the Social Security Administration or if those benefits increase other than for a cost-of-living 

increase. 

If an employee qualified for dual benefits before 1975 and met 

certain vesting requirements, he or she can receive an additional 

annuity amount, which offsets, in part, the dual benefi t reduction. 

This additional amount, which reflects the dual benefi ts payable 

prior to 1975, is called the vested dual benefi t payment. The 

vested dual benefit cannot be paid prior to the date the employee 

could begin to receive a social security benefit if he or she were 

to file for such a benefit. 

Employees who do not qualify for a vested dual ben efi t may 

be eligible for a refund of any excess social secu rity taxes they 

paid (see page 39). 

11
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

Limitations on vested dual benefits 

Vested dual benefit payments are funded by annual appropriations from general U.S. Treasury revenues. These appropriations 

account for less than one percent of total financing sources for the 

railroad retirement system. 

Payment of vested dual benefits is dependent on the time and 

amount of such appropriations. If the appropria tion in a fi scal year 

is for less than the estimated total vested dual benefi t payments, 

individual payments must be reduced. 

Employees with Public, Non-Profit, or Foreign Pensions 

For employees first eligible for a railroad retirement annuity 

and a Federal, State, or local government pension after 1985, 

there may be a reduction in the tier I amount for receipt of a 

public pension based, in part or in whole, on employment not 

covered by social security or railroad retirement after 1956. This 

may also apply to certain other payments not covered by railroad 

retirement or social secu rity, such as payments from a non-profit 

organization, a for eign government, or a foreign employer. This 

does not include military service pensions, payments by the Department of Veterans Affairs, or certain benefits payable by a foreign government as a result of a totalization agree ment between 

that government and the United States. 

Workers’ Compensation 

If an employee is receiving a disability annuity, the tier I 

portion may, under certain circumstances, be reduced for receipt 

of workers’ compensation or public disability benefits. 

If an annuitant becomes entitled to any pensions or benefits 

as described above, the RRB must be notifi ed immediately. 

12
 
Employee and Spouse Annuities 

SPOUSES WITH DUAL BENEFITS
 

Social Security Benefits 

The tier I portion of a spouse annuity is reduced for any social security entitlement, regardless of whether the social security 

benefit is based on the spouse’s own earnings, the employee’s 

earnings, or the earnings of another person. This reduction follows principles of social security law, which limit payment to the 

higher of any two or more benefits payable to an individual at one 

time. 

Public Pensions 

The tier I portion of a spouse annuity may also be reduced 

for receipt of any Federal, State, or local govern ment pension 

separately payable to the spouse based on the spouse’s own earnings. The reduction generally does not apply if the employment 

on which the pension is based was covered under the Social Security Act throughout the last 60 months of public employment. 

Most military service pensions and payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs will not cause a reduc tion. Pensions 

paid by a foreign government or interstate instrumentality will 

also not cause a reduction. For spous es subject to the public pension reduction, the tier I reduc tion is equal to 2/3 of the amount 

of the public pension. 

Employee Annuity 

If both individuals in a marriage are railroad employees and 

both started railroad employment after 1974, the amount of any 

spouse or divorced spouse annuity is reduced by the amount of the 

employee annuity to which the spouse is also entitled. 

If either one had some railroad service before 1975, the spouse 

13
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

tier I amount is reduced by the amount of the railroad employee 

tier I to which the spouse is entitled and that initial reduction is 

restored in the spouse tier II amount. The spouse tier I amount cannot be reduced below zero. 

MINIMUM GUARANTY FOR EMPLOYEE
 

AND SPOUSE ANNUITIES 

Under a special minimum guaranty provision, railroad families will not receive less in monthly benefits than they would have 

if railroad earnings were covered by social security rather than 

railroad retirement laws. This guaranty is intended to cover situations in which one or more members of a family would otherwise 

be eligible for a type of social security benefit which is not provided under the Railroad Retirement Act. 

For example, social security provides children’s ben efi ts when 

an employee is totally disabled, retired, or deceased. The Railroad 

Retirement Act only provides chil dren’s benefits if the employee 

is deceased. Therefore, if a retired rail employee has children who 

would otherwise be eligible for a benefit under social security, the 

employee’s annuity would be increased to reflect what social security would pay the family, unless the annuity is already more than 

that amount. 

COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES IN EMPLOYEE 

AND SPOUSE RETIREMENT BENEFITS
 

After retirement, the tier I portions of both employee and 

spouse annuities are generally increased for higher living costs 

at the same time, and by the same percentage, as social security 

benefits. These increases, effective December 1 and included in 

the January payment, are based on the rise in the Consumer Price 

Index from the third quarter of the last year a cost-of-living ad14
 
Employee and Spouse Annuities 

justment became effective to the corresponding period of the 

current year. Generally, if the Index increases by 5 percent, for example, the tier I portion increases by 5 percent. Under certain circumstances, the increase can be based on aver age national wage 

increases rather than price increases. 

If an annuitant is receiving both railroad retirement and social 

security benefits, the increased tier I portion is reduced by the increased social security benefit. 

The tier II portions of retired employee and spouse annuities 

are normally increased by 32.5 percent of the increase in the Consumer Price Index. 

Tier II cost-of-living increases are generally payable at the 

same time as tier I cost-of-living increases. Vested dual benefit 

payments and supplemental annuities are not increased by these 

cost-of-living adjustments. 

WORKING AFTER RETIREMENT 

Neither a regular annuity, a supplemental annuity, nor a spouse 

annuity is payable for any month in which a retired employee, regardless of age, works for an employer covered under the Railroad 

Retirement Act, including labor organizations. However, service 

for less than $25 a month to a local lodge will not prevent payment 

of the annuity for that month. 

Retired employees and spouses who work for their last preretirement nonrailroad employer are subject to an earnings deduction. Such employment will reduce tier II benefits and supplemental annuity payments, which are not otherwise subject to earnings 

deductions, by $1 for each $2 of earnings received, subject to a 

maximum reduction of 50 percent. These reductions continue af15
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

ter full retirement age. Work that begins on the same day as the 

annuity beginning date is not last pre-retirement nonrailroad employment. 

Retired employees and spouses who have not yet attained full 

social security retirement age, which ranges from age 65 for those 

born before 1938 to age 67 for those born in 1960 or later, may 

also be subject to additional earnings deductions for any earnings, 

in or outside the rail industry, that exceed certain exempt amounts. 

The tier I and vested dual benefits of these employee and spouse 

annuities are subject to deductions if earnings exceed the exempt 

amounts applicable to social security beneficiaries. Prior to the 

calendar year in which full social security retirement age is attained, the deduction is $1 in benefits for every $2 of annual earnings exceeding an exempt amount ($17,040 in 2018). 

If the employee or spouse has a tier I reduction for social security benefits, the tier I benefit is not reduced for excess earnings. 

In the first year in which an employee subject to these earnings deductions is both entitled to an annuity and has a non-work 

month, full tier I and vested dual benefits can be paid for those 

months in which the employee had low earnings or did not have 

substantial self-employment, no matter what total earnings for the 

year were. A non-work month is one in which the employee neither earns over 1/12 of the annual exempt amount nor has substantial self-employment. Non-work months can be claimed in only 

one calendar year, which need not necessarily be the first year of 

entitlement.

 In the calendar year in which an individual attains full social 

security retirement age, deductions of $1 are made in tier I and 

vested dual benefits for every $3 earned in excess of an exempt 

16
 
Employee and Spouse Annuities 

amount ($45,360 in 2018), but only counting those earnings in the 

months prior to the month full retirement age is attained. These 

tier I and vested dual benefit deductions stop effective with the 

month full retire ment age is attained. 

Earnings received for services rendered, plus any net earnings 

from self-employment, are considered when assessing deductions 

for earnings. Interest, dividends, cer tain rental income, or income 

from some stocks, bonds, or other investments are not generally 

considered earnings for this purpose. 

Annuitants under full retirement age who work after retirement and expect that their earnings for a year will be more than the 

annual exempt amount must promptly notify the RRB and furnish 

an estimate of their expected earnings in order to prevent an overpayment and penalties. They should also notify the RRB if their 

original estimate changes signifi cantly. 

Retired employees and spouses who return to work for a railroad or for their last pre-retirement nonrailroad employer must notify the RRB, regardless of earnings or age. 

A spouse annuity is subject to reductions not only for the 

spouse’s earnings, but also for the earnings of the employee, regardless of whether the earnings are from service for the last preretirement nonrailroad employer or other post-retirement employment. 

A spouse annuity is not payable for any month in which the 

employee’s annuity is not payable, or for any month in which the 

spouse, regardless of age, works for an employer covered under 

the Railroad Retirement Act. A divorced spouse annuity is not 

payable for any month in which the divorced spouse, regardless 

of age, works for an employer covered under the Railroad Retire17
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

ment Act. A divorced spouse can receive an annuity even if the 

employ ee has not retired, provided they have been divorced for at 

least 2 years, the employee and former spouse are at least age 62, 

and the employee is fully insured under the Social Security Act 

using combined railroad and social security earnings. 

Disability Work Restrictions 

If an employee's annuity is based on disability, there are certain work restrictions that can affect payment, depending on the 

amount of earnings. The annuity is not payable for any month in 

which the disabled annuitant works for an employer covered under the Railroad Retirement Act. The annuity is not payable for 

any month in 2018 in which the annuitant earns more than $920 

in any employment or net self-employment, exclusive of disability-related work expenses. Withheld payments will be restored if 

earnings for the year are less than $11,500 (after disability-related work expenses are deducted). Failure to report such earnings 

could involve a significant penalty charge. 

These disability work restrictions cease upon a disabled employee annuitant’s attainment of full retirement age. This transition is effective no earlier than full retirement age even if the annuitant had 30 years of service. Earnings deductions continue to 

apply to those working for their last pre-retirement nonrailroad 

employer. 

When a disabled employee annuitant works before reaching 

full retirement age, this may also raise a question about the possibility of that individual’s recovery from disability, regardless of 

the amount of earnings. Consequently, any work activity must be 

reported promptly to avoid overpayments, which are recoverable 

by the RRB and may also include penalties. 

18
 
Employee and Spouse Annuities 

WHEN ANNUITIES STOP
 

Payment of any annuity stops upon the annuitant’s death, and 

the annuity is not payable for any day in the month of death. 

A disability annuity stops after the employee recov ers from 

the disability; it can be reinstated if the disabling condition recurs. 

A spouse annuity stops if the employee’s annuity terminates, 

or the spouse annuity was based on caring for a child and the child 

is no longer under age 18 or disabled or the child is no longer in 

the spouse’s care. However, the spouse annuity may continue if 

she or he is qualifi ed with out the child or it can resume when the 

spouse attains a qualifying age. 

While a divorce ends eligibility for a spouse annuity, a divorced spouse may, under conditions described previ ously, qualify for 

a divorced spouse annuity. 

A divorced spouse’s annuity stops upon remarriage or upon 

entitlement to a social security benefit based on her or his own 

earnings if the unreduced social security benefit is equal to or 

greater than one-half of the employee’s unre duced tier I amount. 

A divorced spouse’s annuity may be reduced or stopped if the 

divorced spouse is also entitled to a railroad retirement annuity. 

It is important to notify the RRB promptly if one of the 

above changes occurs. Failure to report can result in an overpayment, which the RRB will take action to recover, sometimes with 

interest or penalties. Failure to report changes promptly or making 

a false statement can also result in a fine or imprisonment. 

19
 
SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

Annuities are payable to surviving widow(er)s, children, and 

certain other dependents. Lump-sum benefits are payable after the 

death of a railroad employee only if there are no qualifi ed survivors 

of the employee immediately eligible for monthly annuities. With 

the exception of a residual lump-sum death benefit, eligibility for 

survivor benefits depends on whether or not the employee was 

insured under the Railroad Retirement Act at the time of death. 

An employee is insured if he or she has at least 10 years of 

railroad service, or 5 years performed after 1995, and a current 

connection with the railroad industry as of the month the annuity 

begins or the month of death, whichever occurs fi rst. The current 

connection require ment is described on pages 4-6 of this booklet. 

If a deceased employee was not so insured, jurisdiction of any 

survivor benefits payable is transferred to the Social Security Administration and any survivor benefits are paid by that agency 

instead of the RRB. Regardless of which agency has jurisdiction, 

the deceased employee’s railroad retirement and social security 

credits will be combined for the purpose of benefi t computations. 

TYPES OF SURVIVOR BENEFITS 

Annuities are payable to widow(er)s and unmarried children; 

in certain cases, benefits are also payable to parents, remarried 

widow(er)s, grandchildren, and surviving divorced spouses. 

20
 
Survivor Benefits 

WIDOW(ER)S’ ANNUITIES are payable at: 

► Age 60; age reductions are applied to annuities awarded 

before full retirement age. The eligibility age for unreduced 

annuities is gradually rising from age 65 to age 67, depending on the year of birth. 

► Ages 50-59 if the widow(er) is totally disabled and unable to work in any regular employ ment. The disability 

must have begun within 7 years after the employee’s death 

or within 7 years after the termina tion of an annuity based on 

caring for a child of the deceased employee. In most cases, 

a 5-month waiting period is required after the onset of disability before a dis ability annuity can begin. 

► Any age if the widow(er) is caring for an unmar ried 

child of the deceased employee under age 18 or a dis abled 

child of any age who became disabled before age 22. 

Generally, the widow(er) must have been married to the employee for at least 9 months prior to death, unless she or he was the 

natural or adoptive parent of their child, the employ ee’s death was 

accidental or while on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, the 

widow(er) was potentially entitled to certain railroad retirement or 

social security benefits in the month before the month of marriage, 

or the marriage was postponed due to State restrictions on the employee’s prior marriage and divorce due to men tal incompetence 

or similar incapacity. 

Survivor annuities may also be payable to a surviving divorced spouse or remarried widow(er). Benefits are limited to 

the amounts social security would pay and therefore are less than 

the amount of the survivor annuity otherwise payable. However, a 

former spouse may be paid a court-ordered partition amount. 

21
 
 

RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

A surviving divorced spouse may qualify if she or he was 

married to the employee for a period of at least 10 years immediately before the date the divorce became final, is unmarried or 

remarried under the conditions described in the next paragraph, 

and is age 60 or older (age 50 or older if disabled). A surviving 

divorced spouse who is unmarried can qualify at any age if caring 

for the employee’s child and the child is under age 16 or disabled, 

in which case the 10-year marriage requirement does not apply. 

The portion of a survivor annuity equivalent to a social security benefit (tier I) may be paid to a widow(er) or surviving divorced 

spouse who remarries after age 60, or to a disabled widow(er) or 

disabled surviving divorced spouse who remarries after age 50; 

however, remarriage prior to age 60 (or age 50 if disabled) would 

not prevent eligibility if such remarriage ends. Such social security level benefits may also be paid to a younger widow(er) or 

surviving divorced spouse caring for the employee’s child who is 

under age 16 or disabled, if the remarriage is to a person entitled 

to railroad retirement or social security ben efits, or if the remarriage ends. 

OTHER SURVIVOR ANNUITIES are payable to: 

► An unmarried child under age 18. 

► An unmarried child age 18 in full-time attendance 

at an elementary or secondary school or in approved 

homeschooling until the student attains age 19, or the end 

of the school term in progress when the student attains 

age 19. In most cases where a student attains age 19 during the school term, benefits are limited to the 2 months 

following the month age 19 is attained. These benefi ts will 

be terminated earlier if the student gets married, graduates 

from school, or ceases full-time attendance. 

22
 
Survivor Benefits 

► An unmarried disabled child over age 18 if the child 

became totally disabled before age 22. 

► An unmarried dependent grandchild meeting any of 

the requirements described above for a child, if both the 

grandchild’s parents are deceased or found disabled by the 

Social Security Administration. 

► A parent at age 60 who was dependent on the employee 

for at least half of the parent’s support. If the employee was 

also survived by a widow(er), surviving divorced spouse, 

or child who could ever qualify for an annuity, the parent’s 

annuity is limited to the amount that social security would 

pay. 

SURVIVOR ANNUITY ESTIMATES 

Survivors can call the agency toll-free (1-877-772-5772) to 

speak with a field service representative and request an annuity 

estimate. Active or retired employees who are concerned about 

the amount of benefits which would be payable to their survivors 

may also receive estimates from field service staff. Pre-retirement 

counseling is also available by appointment at any RRB fi eld office or over the phone. 

The average annuity awarded to widow(er)s in fiscal year 2017, 

excluding remarried widow(er)s and surviving divorced spouses, 

was $2,103 a month. On average, children received $1,368 per 

month, while total family benefits for widow(er)s with children 

averaged $4,189 a month. The average annuity awarded to remarried widow(er)s or surviving divorced spouses in fiscal year 

2017 was $1,206 a month. 

23
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

SURVIVOR ANNUITY TIERS 

Survivor annuities, like retirement annuities, consist of tier I 

and tier II components. 

Tier I is based on the deceased employee’s combined railroad 

retirement and social security credits, and is gener ally equivalent 

to the amount that would have been payable under social security. 

Tier II amounts are percentages of the deceased employee’s 

tier II amount, as described in the section on formulas at the back 

of this booklet. 

Survivor annuity amounts may also be determined under certain minimum provisions which guarantee that a widow(er)’s annuity will be at least equal to the two-tier benefit the deceased 

employee would have received at the time of the award of the 

widow(er)’s annuity, minus certain reductions including those for 

age and receipt of social security benefits, and no less than the 

spouse annuity she or he was receiving just prior to the employee’s 

death. 

SURVIVORS WITH DUAL BENEFITS 

Social Security Benefits 

The tier I portion is reduced by the amount of any social security benefits received by a survivor annuitant, even if the social 

security benefits are based on the sur vivor’s own earnings. This 

reduction follows the princi ples of social security law which, in 

effect, limit payment to the higher of any two or more benefits 

payable to an individual at one time. When both railroad retirement annuities and social security benefits are payable, they are 

generally combined into a single payment issued through the 

RRB. A survivor annuitant must notify the RRB if any benefits 

24
 
Survivor Benefits 

are received directly from the Social Security Administration or 

if those benefits increase other than for a cost-of-living increase. 

Public Pensions 

The tier I portion of a widow(er)’s annuity may be reduced 

for receipt of any Federal, State, or local govern ment pension 

based on the widow(er)’s own earnings. The reduction generally 

does not apply if the employment on which the pension is based 

was covered under the Social Security Act throughout the last 60 

months of public employment. 

Most military service pensions and payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs will not cause a reduc tion. Pensions paid 

by a foreign government or interstate instrumentality will also not 

cause a reduction. For those subject to a public pension reduction, 

the tier I reduction is equal to 2/3 of the amount of the public pension. 

Employee Annuity 

If a widow(er) is also entitled to a railroad retirement employee annuity, and both the widow(er) and the deceased employee started railroad employment after 1974, the survivor annuity (tier I and tier II) payable to the widow(er) is reduced by 

the full amount of the widow(er)’s own employee annuity. 

If a widow or dependent widower is also a railroad employee 

annuitant, and either the widow(er) or the deceased employee had 

10 years of railroad service before 1975, the tier I reduction may 

be partially restored in the survivor tier II amount. 

If either the deceased employee or the survivor annuitant had 

some railroad service before 1975 but less than 10 years of service, the widow(er)’s own employee annuity and the tier II portion 

25
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

of the survivor annuity would be payable to the widow(er). The 

tier I portion of the survivor annuity would be payable only to the 

extent that it exceeds the tier I portion of the widow(er)’s own 

employee annuity. 

COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES 

IN SURVIVOR ANNUITIES
 

Cost-of-living increases, effective December 1 and included in 

the January payment, are made on the basis of increases in national prices or, in some circumstances, average national wages, and 

calculated the same way as cost-of-living increases in employee 

and spouse annuities. 

However, in the case of widow(er)s’ annuities computed on the 

basis of the initial minimum amount provided under 2001 legislation, the monthly amount will not increase until the amount payable under previous law plus subsequent cost-of-living increases 

is higher than the initial minimum amount. 

WORK AND EARNINGS LIMITATIONS 

A survivor annuity is not payable for any month the survivor works for an employer covered under the Railroad Retirement 

Act, regardless of the survivor’s age. 

Survivors who are receiving social security benefits have their 

railroad retirement annuity and social security benefi t combined 

for earnings limitations purposes. Prior to the calendar year in 

which full retirement age is attained, there is a deduction of $1 

in benefits for every $2 earned over an exempt amount ($17,040 

in 2018). The deduction is $1 for every $3 earned over an exempt 

amount ($45,360 in 2018) for the months in the calendar year in 

which the individual attains full retirement age, up to the month 

26
 
Survivor Benefits 

of attainment. Work deductions stop effective with the month full 

retirement age is attained. In the first year in which a survivor is 

both entitled to an annuity and has a non-work month, a full annuity can be paid for those months in which the survivor had low 

earnings or did not have substantial self-employment, no matter 

what total earnings for the year were. 

As work and earnings may affect the payment of an annuity, 

they must be reported promptly to the RRB in order to prevent 

potential overpayments. 

These earnings restrictions do not apply to disabled children 

or to disabled widow(er)s under age 60. However, annuitants receiving disability benefits must report any work or earnings to the 

RRB. The agency reviews such information to determine whether 

recovery from the disability is indicated. 

WHEN SURVIVOR PAYMENTS STOP 

All survivor payments stop upon death; no annuity is payable 

for the month of death. 

A widow(er)’s annuity will be reduced upon remarriage and 

in some cases payment will be prevented. A widow(er)’s, surviving divorced spouse’s, and remarried widow(er)’s annuity could 

also end upon entitlement to another survivor or spouse annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act which is greater than the 

widow(er)’s annuity. 

A surviving divorced spouse’s or remarried widow(er)’s annuity could stop when entitled to a social security benefi t which 

equals or exceeds the deceased employee’s basic tier I amount 

and reduces the annuity amount to zero. 

27
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

A widow(er)’s, remarried widow(er)’s, or surviving divorced 

spouse’s annu ity which is based on a child in care will end if the 

child is no longer in the person’s care, the child’s eligibility ceases, or, in most situations, remarriage occurs. Provided the child 

in care is not disabled, this type of annuity also ends when the 

child reaches age 18 (for widow(er)s), or age 16 (for remarried 

widow(er)s and surviving divorced spouses). 

A child’s or grandchild’s annuity stops when he or she turns 

18, or if the child marries or recovers from their disability upon 

which the annuity was based. Similarly, an annuity based on a 

parent’s disability stops if the Social Security Administration subsequently determines that the parent is no longer disabled. If the 

child is 18 and a full-time elementary or high school student, the 

annuity stops when full-time attendance ceases, at graduation, 

or upon attainment of age 19. In most cases, when a student attains age 19 during the school term, benefits are extended to the 2 

months following the month age 19 is attained. 

An annuity will stop if it was based on disability and the 

beneficiary recovers from the disability before age 60. A disability annuity can be reinstated if the disability recurs within 

7 years and the widow(er) is still under age 60. 

A parent’s survivor annuity may stop upon remar riage; in certain cases a remarried parent is entitled to a tier I benefit. 

Any of the above occurrences must be reported promptly to 

the RRB in order to prevent an overpayment. 

28
 
Survivor Benefits 

LUMP-SUM DEATH BENEFITS
 

A lump-sum death benefit is payable to certain survivors of 

an employee with 10 or more years of railroad service, or less than 

10 years if at least 5 years were after 1995, and a current connection with the railroad industry if there is no survivor immediately 

eligible for a monthly annuity upon the employee’s death. 

If the employee did not have 10 years of service before 

1975, the lump sum is limited to $255 and is payable only to the 

widow(er) living in the same household as the employee at the 

time of the employee’s death. 

If the employee had less than 10 years of service but had 5 

years after 1995, he or she must have met social security’s insured 

status requirements for the lump sum to be payable. 

If the employee had 10 years of service before 1975, the lump 

sum is payable to the living-with widow(er). If there is no such 

widow(er), the lump sum may be paid to the funeral home or the 

payer of the funeral expenses. These lump sums averaged $1,010 

in fiscal year 2017. 

If a widow(er) is eligible for monthly benefits at the time of 

the employee’s death, but the widow(er) had excess earnings 

deductions which prevented annuity payments or for any other 

reason did not receive monthly benefits in the 12-month period 

beginning with the month of the employee’s death totaling at 

least as much as the lump sum, the difference between the lumpsum benefit and monthly ben efits actually paid, if any, is payable 

in the form of a deferred lump-sum benefit. 

The average for all types of lump sums was $933 in fi scal year 

2017. 

29
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

Residual Lump-Sum Payment 

The railroad retirement system also provides, under certain 

conditions, a residual lump-sum death benefit which ensures that 

a railroad family receives at least as much in benefits as the employee paid in railroad retire ment taxes before 1975. This benefit 

is, in effect, a refund of an employee’s pre-1975 railroad retirement taxes, after subtraction of any benefits previously paid on the 

basis of the employee’s service. This benefit is seldom payable. 

30
 
RETIREMENT AND
 

SURVIVOR INFORMATION
 

APPLYING FOR AN ANNUITY 

Applications for railroad retirement or survivor benefi ts are 

generally filed at one of the RRB’s fi eld offices, with a traveling 

RRB representative at a customer outreach program service location, or by tele phone and mail. The agency accepts applications up 

to 3 months in advance of an annuity beginning date, which allows 

the agency to complete the processing of most new claims by a 

person’s retirement date. 

An employee can be in compensated service while filing a disability application provided that the compensated service is not 

active service and terminates within 90 days from the date of filing. When an employee files a disability application while still 

in compensated service, it will be necessary for the employee to 

provide a specific ending date of the compen sation. Compensated 

service includes not only compensa tion with respect to active service performed by an employ ee for an employer, but also includes 

pay for time lost, wage continuation payments, certain employee 

protection payments, and any other payment for which the employee will receive additional creditable service. 

Railroad employees with RRB online accounts can get estimates of their future annuities by visiting the Benefit Online Services section of RRB.gov. Instructions for establishing an online 

account are available by clicking on the link for requesting a Password Request Code (PRC) in that same section. 

31
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

Persons applying for railroad retirement benefits are required 

to enroll in either the Direct Deposit Program, which electronically transfers payments into an individual’s checking or savings 

account, or the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Direct Express 

program, which electroni cally transfers Federal payments to an individual’s Direct Express-issued Debit MasterCard®. Enrollment 

waivers are avail able only under very limited conditions. 

Applicants for railroad retirement and survivor benefi ts can 

check with an RRB fi eld office as to when they can expect their 

first payment. Customer service standards and progress reports are 

available at RRB.gov and in all RRB fi eld offices. 

To expedite filing, applicants may schedule an appointment 

for individual pre-retirement counseling, which is provided at 

any RRB fi eld office or over the phone. Certain documents are 

required when filing a railroad retirement annuity application, 

including: 

FOR EMPLOYEES AND SPOUSES: 

» Proof of an employee’s age. 

» Proof of any military service. 

» Proof of marriage if the spouse is eligible or will
 

shortly become eligible for a spouse annuity. 

» A divorced spouse must furnish proof of divorce 

from the employee. 

» Proof of the spouse’s or divorced spouse’s age. 

» Proof of a child’s relationship and age if the spouse
 

is applying for an annuity based on caring for the

 employee’s child. 

32
 
 Retirement and Survivor Information 

» Information about any public service pension 

for which the applicant qualifies. 

» Banking information for Direct Deposit of benefit 

payments (needed at time application is filed). 

» Supporting medical evidence if applying for a

 disability annuity. 

A photocopy of a record is 

not accepted as an official 

document. To avoid a delay 

in application processing, 

any proof submitted must be 

an original or certified copy. 

The best proof of age is a certified copy of civil or church 

documents recorded at or close to the time of birth. The best proof 

of marriage is a certified copy of the public or church record or 

the original marriage certificate. A divorced spouse would be 

expected to furnish a certified copy of the final divorce decree. 

Proof of military service may be a certifi cate of discharge, or any 

official military record that shows the dates of service. 

Employees and spouses are encouraged to submit their proofs 

well in advance of retirement in order to expedite the annuity 

application process and avoid delays resulting from inadequate 

proofs. Information will be recorded and stored electronically, and 

proofs will be promptly returned. 

Applicants for disability annuities are required to submit supporting medical information. They are sometimes asked to take 

a special medical examination given by a doctor designated by 

the RRB. 

33
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

An annuity is effective as of the first full month throughout 

which the employee and/or spouse is age 60, or age 62 in the case 

of reduced annuities. An annuity is effective the first day of the 

month full retirement age is attained in the case of unreduced annuities with less than 30 years of service. 

The retroactivity of a retirement annuity application is limited 

to 1 year for disability annuities and 6 months for full age annuities. 

There is generally no retroactivity for reduced age annuities. 

Any social security benefits due the retired employee or family member which begin after 1974 are paid through the RRB. 

Even though the RRB processes payment, the Social Security 

Administration is responsible for all adjudi cation. 

FOR SURVIVORS: 

» A widow(er) must furnish proof of age, proof of
 

marriage, and proof of the employee’s death.
 

» A surviving divorced spouse must furnish proof of
 

divorce from the employee.
 

» If applying for a disability annuity, the widow(er)
 

must also provide supporting medical evidence.
 

» A parent must furnish proof of relationship to the
 

employee and proof of support from the employee. 

» For eligible children, proof of the relationship and age 

of each child is needed. Supporting medical evidence 

is required if a child is over age 18 and disabled. Proof 

of full-time elementary or high school attendance is 

needed for eighteen-year-old students. The employee's 

stepchildren must furnish proof of their dependency 

on the employee. 

34
 
 Retirement and Survivor Information 

Retroactivity of a survivor annuity application is 1 year for disabled widow(er)s and 6 months for full retirement age widow(er)s, 

mothers (fathers), children, and parents. For widow(er)s between 

ages 60-61, retroactivity is 6 months if it does not increase the 

age reduction, although this does not apply to surviving divorced 

spouses or remarried widow(er)s. Otherwise, there is generally no 

retroactivity for reduced age widow(er)s’ annuities. Lump-sum 

death benefit applications must be filed within 2 years after the 

death of the employee. There is no time limit on filing for a residual 

payment. 

MONITORING RETIREMENT
 

AND SURVIVOR PAYMENTS
 

Under several monitoring programs now in effect, the RRB 

maintains contact with retirement and survivor benefi ciaries in 

order to ensure the reporting of events which would require suspension or termination of monthly benefits. The records of beneficiaries are also checked with the Social Security Administration 

because annuities may be affected by nonrailroad earnings and 

because entitlement to social security benefits affects the amount 

of all annuities. 

RIGHT OF APPEAL 

Persons who believe that their claims have not been adjudicated 

correctly may ask for reconsideration from the RRB unit that 

denied the claim. If not satisfied with that review, the applicant 

may appeal to the RRB’s Bureau of Hearings and Appeals. 

Further appeals can be carried to the three-member Board 

itself, and beyond the Board to Federal courts. The RRB’s field 

office personnel will explain these appeals procedures and the 

time limits on filing appeals to those seeking reconsideration of 

their claims. 

35
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

GARNISHMENT/PROPERTY SETTLEMENTS
 

Garnishment 

Certain percentages of an employee, spouse, or survivor annuity may be subject to legal process (i.e., garnish ment) to enforce 

an obligation for child support and/or alimony payments. 

Property Settlements 

Employee tier II benefits, vested dual benefits, and supplemental annuities are subject to court-ordered property settlements 

in proceedings related to divorce, annulment, or legal separation. 

Tier I benefi ts are not subject to property settlements. 

IF REQUIREMENTS ARE NOT MET 

Retirement annuities are not payable by the RRB unless the 

employee has 5 years of creditable service after 1995, or 10 years 

of service at any time. Service includes any creditable military 

service. 

Survivor annuities are not payable unless the employee had 

a current connection with the railroad industry and either 5 years 

of creditable service after 1995 or 10 years of service at any time. 

In either of the above circumstances, if the require ments 

are not met, the employee’s railroad retirement credits are transferred to the Social Security Administration and treated as social 

security credits. Benefits paid by that agency would accordingly 

take into account both railroad and social security covered earnings. 

The Railroad Retirement Act does not allow a former railroad 

employee to withdraw his or her retirement taxes. Like social security taxes, railroad retirement taxes are not refundable unless 

36
 
Retirement and Survivor Information 

retirement tax withholding has exceeded annual maximums. 

RAILROAD RETIREMENT TAXES 

By law, railroad retirement tier I payroll taxes are coordinated 

with social security taxes and increase auto matically when social security taxes rise. Employees and employers pay tier I taxes 

which are the same as social security taxes. In addition, both employees and employers pay tier II taxes to finance railroad retirement benefit payments over and above social security levels. 

The tier I tax on employees and employers is 7.65 percent in 

2018. The tier II tax on employees is 4.90 percent, while the tier II 

tax rate on rail employers, rail labor organizations, and rail employee representatives is 13.10 percent in 2018. An employee representative is a labor official of a noncovered labor organization 

who rep resents employees covered under the Acts administered 

by the RRB. 

The ratio of certain asset balances to the sum of benefi ts and 

administrative expenses (the average account benefits ratio) determines tier II taxes on employers and employees. Depending 

on the average account benefits ratio, tier II taxes for employers 

range between 8.20 percent and 22.10 percent, while the tier II 

tax rate for employees is between 0 and 4.90 percent. 

Railroad retirement taxes apply to earnings on an annual basis. The amounts of earnings subject to these taxes are determined 

annually on the basis of national wage levels. 

DUAL TAX PAYMENTS 

Railroad employees who also worked for a social security covered employer in the same year may, under certain circumstances, 

(continued on page 39) 37 
 

RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

Table 3. 2018 Regular Railroad Retirement Taxes 

MAXIMUM 

ANNUAL 

TAX TAXABLE 

RATE EARNINGS 

TIER I 

Employees & Employers 7.65%* $128,400 

TIER II 

Employees 4.90% $95,400 

Employers 13.10% $95,400 

Annual regular taxes on 

employees earning $128,400 

TIER I TIER II TOTAL 

Employees $9,822.60 $4,674.60 $14,497.20 

Employers $9,822.60 $12,497.40 $22,320.00 

* The tier I tax rate is divided into 6.20 percent for railroad retirement and 

1.45 percent for Medicare hospital insurance. The 2018 maximum earnings 

base for railroad retirement is $128,400, and the Medicare hospital insurance tax is applied to all earnings. Consequently, employee and employer 

contributions continue to be made at the 1.45 percent rate, even after the 

employee has earned $128,400. An additional 0.9 percent in hospital insurance taxes (2.35 percent in total) applies to on an individual’s income exceeding $200,000, or $250,000 for a married couple filing a joint tax return. 

While employers will begin withholding the additional Medicare tax as soon 

as an individual’s wages exceed the $200,000 threshold, the fi nal amount 

owed or refunded will be calculated as part of the individual’s Federal income tax return. 

38
 
Retirement and Survivor Information 

receive a tax credit equivalent to any excess social security taxes 

withheld. 

Employees who worked for two or more railroads in a year, or 

who had tier I taxes withheld from their RRB sickness insurance 

benefits in addition to their railroad earnings, may be eligible for 

a tax credit of any excess tier I or tier II railroad retirement taxes 

withheld. Employees who had tier I taxes withheld from their 

supplemental sickness benefits may also be eligible for a tax credit 

of any excess tier I tax. Such tax credits may be claimed on an 

employee’s Federal income tax return. 

Employees who worked for two or more railroads, or had both 

railroad retirement and social security taxes withheld from their 

earnings, should see Internal Revenue Service publication 505, 

Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax, for information on how to figure any excess railroad retirement or social security tax withheld. 

Dual Railroad Retirement-Social Security Taxes Paid, 

1951-74 

An employee with 10 or more years of railroad service who 

is not entitled to a vested dual benefit payment may be entitled 

to a refund of excess social security taxes if his or her combined 

taxable earnings from the railroad retirement and social security 

systems in any year in the period 1951-1974 exceeded a maximum 

annual amount creditable under the Railroad Retirement Act. Eligible employees will receive their refunds from the RRB at retirement without applying for them. In the event an employee should 

die before receiving the refund, payment will be made to the employee’s survivors. 

39
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

Separation or Severance Allowances 

A lump sum, approximating railroad retirement tier II payroll 

taxes deducted from separation (or severance) allowances, may 

be paid upon retirement to employees meeting minimum service 

requirements, or their survivors, to the extent the separation 

allowances did not yield additional railroad retirement service or 

earnings credits. The lump-sum provision applies to separation 

allowances made after 1984. 

FEDERAL INCOME TAX ON 

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BENEFITS
 

The tier I portion of a railroad retirement annuity that is actually equivalent to a social security benefit is treated as a social 

security benefit for Federal income tax purpos es. Depending on 

the amount of other income received in the taxable year, a portion of these benefit payments may be subject to Federal income 

tax. 

Tier I benefits exceeding social security benefits, such as 

retirement benefits payable between ages 60 and 62, and many 

occupational disability annuities, plus the tier II portion of railroad retirement annuities, vested dual benefits, and supplemental 

annuities paid by the RRB are treated like private pensions for 

Federal income tax pur poses. The Railroad Retirement Act specifically exempts benefits paid by the RRB from State and local 

income tax. 

The RRB and the Social Security Administration issue tax information statements to annuitants each January. In the absence 

of a request not to withhold, taxes are withheld from U.S. citizens 

or residents whose railroad retirement benefits in excess of the 

40
 
Retirement and Survivor Information 

social security equivalent level total more than certain annual 

threshold amounts. Any amounts withheld during the taxable 

year are reflected on the annual statements. 

SERVICE AND EARNINGS RECORDS 

The RRB maintains a record of all covered railroad service 

and creditable earnings after 1936. The information is recorded 

under the employee’s social security account number used by the 

employer to report service and compensation to the RRB. 

Additional service months may be deemed in some cases 

where an employee does not actually work in every month of the 

year. For additional service months to be deemed, the employee’s 

compensation for the year, up to the tier II maximum, must exceed an amount equal to 1/12 of the tier II maximum multiplied 

by the number of service months actually worked. The excess 

amount is then divid ed by 1/12 of the tier II maximum; the result, 

rounded up to a whole number, equals the maximum number of 

months that may be deemed as service months for that year. The 

employee must be in an employment relation (on an approved 

leave of absence) with a covered railroad employer, or be an employee representative, during a deemed service month. An employee may never be credit ed with more than 12 service months 

in any calendar year. 

Except for benefits paid for on-the-job injuries, sickness benefits are subject to tier I railroad retirement taxes if paid within 6 

months after the month in which the employee last worked. They 

are credited as compensation for tier I benefits, but are not credited 

as service months. 

41
 
 

RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

Military Service 

Active duty military service may be credited towards retirement benefits under certain conditions. To be creditable as compensation under the Railroad Retirement Act, service in the U.S. 

Armed Forces must be preceded by railroad service in the same 

or preceding calendar year. With the exceptions noted, the employee must also have entered active military service when the 

United States was at war or in a state of national emergency, or 

have served in the Armed Forces involuntarily. 

If military service began during a war or national emergency period, any active duty service the employee was required to 

continue in beyond the end of the war or national emergency is 

creditable, except that voluntary service extending beyond September 14, 1978, is not creditable. Railroad workers who voluntarily served in the Armed Forces between June 15, 1948, and 

December 15, 1950, when there was no declared national state of 

emergency, can be given railroad retirement credit for their military service if they performed railroad service in the year they 

entered or the year before they entered military service, and if 

they returned to rail service in the year their mil itary service ended or in the following year and had no intervening nonrailroad 

employment. 

Veterans should contact the RRB well in advance of retirement 

regarding required proof of military service. 

WAR AND NATIONAL EMERGENCY PERIODS 

► August 2, 1990 to date as yet undetermined 

► December 16, 1950 to September 14, 1978 

► September 8, 1939 to June 14, 1948 

42
 
Retirement and Survivor Information 

Form BA-6 

Each year, employees receive a Certificate of Service Months 

and Compensation (Form BA-6) from the RRB. This statement 

is important because it provides a current and cumulative record 

of railroad service and compensation. It includes deemed service 

months, separation allowances, and severance payments as well 

as miscellaneous compensation, such as taxable sickness payments. It also includes cumulative amounts of railroad retirement 

payroll taxes paid by the employee over and above social security 

equivalent payroll taxes, and reflects creditable military service 

previously reported to the RRB. Employees are encouraged to 

carefully review Form BA-6 for accuracy upon receipt. 

Railroad employees who have already established a Benefit 

Online Services account at RRB.gov can view their individual 

railroad retirement records of service months and compensation 

through a feature called View Service & Compensation History. 

Though this alternative record does not replace Form BA-6, it 

does make similar information available online. This feature is 

only available to employees with RRB online accounts. 

If an employee disagrees with the information shown on 

Form BA-6, he or she should notify the RRB as soon as possible. 

The law limits the period during which corrections can be made 

to 4 years. When reporting an inaccuracy on Form BA-6, all correspondence must include the employee’s social security number. 

Employees can mail this information to any RRB field office or 

to RRB headquarters at: 

Protest Unit - CESC
 

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board
 

844 North Rush Street
 

Chicago, IL 60611-1275
 

43
 
 

 

RAILROAD RETIREMENT
 

ANNUITY FORMULA
 

COMPONENTS
 

The following describes railroad retirement annuity

formula components as applied to new awards. The 

cost-of-living adjustments applied to annuities are 

described in previous pages of this booklet. 

EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT ANNUITY
 

The amount of a regular annuity is the total of portions which 

are computed separately under different formulas and called tiers, 

plus any vested dual benefit pay ment also due. 

TIER I 

The first tier is calculated in generally the same way as a social security benefit. Any social security credits of an employee 

are combined with his or her railroad retire ment credits for tier I 

computation purposes. 

In computing tier I, an employee’s creditable earnings are 

adjusted to take into account the changes in wage levels over a 

worker’s lifetime. This procedure, called indexing, increases creditable earnings from past years to reflect average national wage 

levels just prior to the employee’s first year of eligibility. The 

adjusted earnings are used to calculate average indexed monthly 

earnings, and a formula is applied to determine the gross tier I 

amount. 

For those first eligible in 2018, the gross tier I is equal to: 

► 90 percent of the first $895 of average indexed
 

monthly earnings, plus
 

► 32 percent of the amount of these earnings over
 

$895 up to $5,397, plus
 

► 15 percent of these earnings in excess of $5,397. 

44
 
Railroad Retirement Annuity Formula Components 

For employees with less than 10 years of railroad service, tier I 

benefits are calculated only if the employee has at least 5 years 

of service after 1995 and an insured status under Social Security 

Act rules (usually 40 quarters of coverage), counting both railroad 

retirement and social security covered earnings. 

Delayed retirement credits 

Tier I benefits are increased by a certain percentage for each 

month an employee delays retirement past full retirement age, 

up until age 70. For those born January 2, 1943, or later, the delayed retirement credit is 2/3 of 1 percent per month (8 percent 

per year). Those born prior to January 2, 1943, earn a lesser percentage credit. Delayed retirement credits are not given to an 

employee with less than 10 years of railroad service, even if the 

employee is over full retirement age when retiring from his or 

her railroad job, if the employee is also entitled to an age-reduced social security benefit and the beginning date of that social 

security benefit precedes the beginning date of his or her railroad retirement annuity. 

Age reductions 

For employees retiring between age 62 and full retirement 

age with less than 30 years of service, age reductions are applied separately to the components of an annuity. As mentioned 

earlier, the full retirement age is gradually rising from 65 to 67, 

depending on the year of birth (see Table 4 on page 47). The 

maximum annuity reduction for retirement at age 62 is gradually 

increasing from 20 percent to 30 percent. This does not affect 

those who retire at ages 60 or 61 with 30 years of service. 

The full retirement age for employee and spouse benefi ts increases from 65 to 66 and from 66 to 67 at the rate of two months 

45
 
 

RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

per year over two separate 6-year periods. These changes also affect how reduced benefi ts are computed for early retirement. The 

increase in full retire ment age from age 65 to age 66 affects those 

people who were born in the years 1938 through 1942. The full 

retire ment age will remain at age 66 for people born in the years 

1943 through 1954. The increase in full retirement age from age 

66 to age 67 affects those who were born in the years 1955 through 

1959. For people who were born in 1960 or later the full retirement age will be age 67. 

Reduced benefits continue to be available but at greater reductions. The early-retirement reduction factor for an employee 

is 1/180 for each of the first 36 months of the reduction period 

regardless of the age of initial entitlement and decreases to 1/240 

for each month (if any) over 36, as mentioned earlier. This will 

result in a gradual increase in the reduction at age 62 to 30 percent for an employee once the age 67 retirement age is in effect. 

If an employee has less than 10 years of railroad service and 

is already entitled to an age-reduced social security benefit, the age 

reduction in his or her tier I will be based on the age reduction 

applicable on the beginning date of the employee’s social security 

benefit, even if the employee is already of full retirement age on 

the beginning date of his or her railroad retirement annuity. 

Age reductions are required in the tier I annuity amounts of 

30-year employees who retired at ages 60-61 before 2002 and attained age 60 or completed 30 years of service after June 1984. 

The age reductions are applied only to the tier I annuity portion. 

If an employee affected by this provision was born before 1938 

and attained 60/30 eligibility after December 1985, tier I is permanently reduced by approximately 20 percent. For those born after 

1937 who retired before 2002, the reduction gradually increased 

46
 
 

 

Railroad Retirement Annuity Formula Components 

Table 4. Employee Retiring with

Less than 30 Years of Service 

YEAR

 OF

 BIRTH*

 FULL 

RETIREMENT 

AGE 

ANNUITY 

REDUCTION 

AT AGE 62 

1937 or earlier 65 20.00% 

1938 65 and 2 months 20.833% 

1939 65 and 4 months 21.667% 

1940 65 and 6 months 22.50% 

1941 65 and 8 months 23.333% 

1942 65 and 10 months 24.167% 

1943 through 1954 66 25.00% 

1955 66 and 2 months 25.833% 

1956 66 and 4 months 26.667% 

1957 66 and 6 months 27.50% 

1958 66 and 8 months 28.333% 

1959 66 and 10 months 29.167% 

1960 or later 67 30.00% 

*A person attains a given age the day before his or her 

birthday. Consequently, someone born on January 1 

is considered to have attained his or her given age on 

December 31 of the previous year. 

as described earlier. In both cases, the tier I amount is frozen until 

the first month throughout which the employee is age 62. It is then 

recomputed to reflect interim increases in national wage levels and 

will become subject to future cost-of-living increases. There is no 

reduction if the employee retired at age 62 or older with 30 years 

of service, or at age 60 with 30 years of service and retirement is 

after 2001. 

47
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

Workers’ compensation or public disability benefi t reductions 

For employees who are under full retirement age and receiving a disability annuity, the tier I amount is, under certain circumstances, reduced for receipt of workers’ compensation or public 

disability benefits. 

Social security reductions 

After any required age reduction, the tier I amount is reduced 

by the amount of any social security benefits also payable but not 

to an amount below zero. 

Reductions for public, non-profit, or foreign pensions 

For employees who attain eligibility for both tier I benefits 

and certain government pension or other payments after 1985, a 

reduction may be required for receipt of a public pension based, 

in part or in whole, on employment not covered by railroad retirement or social security after 1956. This also applies to payments 

from non-profit organizations, certain foreign governments, and 

foreign employers. Usually, an employee’s tier I benefit will not 

be reduced by more than 1/2 of his or her pension from noncovered employment. However, if the employee is under full retirement age and receiving a disability annuity, the tier I benefit may 

be reduced by an added amount if the pension from noncovered 

employment is a public disability benefit. 

TIER II 

The second tier of a regular annuity is computed under a 

separate formula, and is based on railroad service alone. Tier II 

benefits are equal to seven-tenths of 1 percent of the product which 

is obtained by multiplying an individual’s years of service by such 

individual’s average monthly compensation using the tier II tax 

48
 
Railroad Retirement Annuity Formula Components 

base in the 60 months of highest earnings. The tier II component 

is reduced by 25 percent of any gross employee vested dual benefit 

amount due. 

Age reductions 

Age reductions required for those employees retiring between 

age 62 and full retirement age with less than 30 years of service 

are also applied to the tier II compo nent of an annuity. The reduction is 1/180 for each of the first 36 months the employee is under 

full retirement age when his or her annuity begins and 1/240 for 

each additional month (if any). 

Full retirement age is gradually rising as mentioned earlier. 

However, if an employee had any creditable railroad service before August 12, 1983, the retirement age for tier II purposes will 

remain 65. 

Employees with 5-9 years of creditable service, if at least 5 

years were after 1995, are eligible for tier II benefi ts the fi rst full 

month they are age 62. Their tier II benefits are subject to the 

same age reductions that apply to employees with 10-29 years 

of service. If eligible on the basis of total disability, a tier II 

benefit is not payable until age 62 and that amount is reduced for 

early retirement. 

Amount of Vested Dual Benefi t Payment 

To determine this additional annuity amount for a retired employee meeting the vesting requirements, the RRB computes a 

social security benefit based solely on the individual’s railroad 

service before 1975, and a social secu rity benefit based solely on 

social security covered earn ings before 1975. The vested dual benefit is the amount by which the total of these two computations 

49
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

exceeds a social security benefit based on combined railroad and 

social security covered earnings before 1975. 

The vested dual benefit is increased by the cumula tive costof-living percentage increases applicable to tier I benefi ts that 

occurred between January 1, 1975, and the date of retirement or 

January 1, 1982, whichever was earli er. The computed amount is 

then frozen; that is, no further cost-of-living increases are applied 

thereafter. The amount of any vested dual benefit due is added to 

the tier portions and paid as part of the regular annuity. 

The same age reduction applied to the tier I compo nent is applied to the vested dual benefit component of an annuity for those 

employees retiring before full retirement age with less than 30 

years of service. 

Supplemental Annuity Formula 

The amount of a supplemental annuity awarded after 1974 is 

equal to $23 plus $4 for each year of service over 25, up to a maximum of $43. A fraction of $4 is added for each fractional year of 

service. 

If a retired employee also receives a private pension paid for 

entirely or in part by a railroad, the supplemental annuity is subject 

to reduction. The reduction is equal to the amount of the pension 

that is based on the employer’s contributions. The reduction applies whether the employee receives a monthly pension or elects a 

lump sum instead of a monthly pension. There is no reduction for 

any part of a private pension based on the employee’s own contributions. If the employer reduces the private pension because of 

the supplemental annuity, the amount of the reduction is restored 

to the supplemental annuity, but not over the $43 maximum. There 

50
 
Railroad Retirement Annuity Formula Components 

is no reduction to the supplemental annuity for a pension paid by 

a railroad labor organization. 

SPOUSE ANNUITY
 

The spouse annuity formula is based on certain percentages 

of the employee’s tier I and tier II amounts. 

TIER I 

The tier I portion of a spouse annuity, before any applicable 

reductions, is 50 percent of the railroad employee's unreduced 

tier I amount. 

Spouse age reductions 

Age reductions required for those spouses (between age 62 

and full retirement age) of employees retiring with less than 30 

years of service are applied separately to each annuity component. 

Full retirement age for a spouse is gradually rising, just as for 

an employee. Actuarially reduced benefits continue to be available but at greater reductions. The tier I reduction is 1/144 for 

each of the first 36 months the spouse is under full retirement age 

when her or his annuity begins and will decrease to 1/240 for each 

month (if any) over 36. This will result in a gradual increase in 

the reduction at age 62 from 25 percent to 35 percent for a spouse 

once the age 67 retirement age is in effect. If an employee has less 

than 10 years of railroad service and the spouse is already entitled 

to an age-reduced social security benefit, the age reduction in her 

or his tier I will be based on the age reduction applicable on the 

beginning date of the spouse’s social security benefit, even if the 

spouse is already of full retirement age on the beginning date of 

her or his railroad retirement annuity. 

51
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

December 2001 legislation eliminated the tier I age reduction 

for employees ages 60 or 61 with 30 or more years of service 

whose railroad retirement annuities begin January 1, 2002, or later. 

The spouses of these employees are also eligible for full annuities 

at age 60. 

Age reductions required for spouses of employees with 30 

years of service who attained 60/30 eligibility after June 1984 but 

whose annuities began before January 2002 are applied only to the 

tier I portion of the spouse annuity. If the employee attained 60/30 

eligibility before July 1984, retired at age 62 with 30 years of service or begins receiving an annuity at ages 60 or 61 after 2001 with 

30 years of service, the spouse tier I portion is not subject to these 

reductions. 

If the employee’s annuity is subject to 60/30 age reductions, 

the spouse of such an employee may receive a reduced tier I 

benefit, unless the spouse is already of full retirement age. 

In reduced 60/30 spouse cases, the tier I benefit is equal to 1/2 

of the employee’s reduced tier I on the employee’s annuity beginning date and is also frozen until the first full month throughout which both the employee and spouse are age 62. Then it is 

recomputed based on 1/2 of the employee’s age 62 gross tier I 

amount and reduced for each month the spouse is under full 

retirement age at that time. If at the time of recomputation the 

spouse is already at full retirement age, or the spouse has a minor or disabled child in care, no age reduction would apply. 

The spouse of a disability annuitant who is otherwise eligible 

for a 60/30 age annuity receives an age reduction if the spouse’s 

annuity beginning date was before 2002. If the spouse’s annuity 

beginning date is January 1, 2002, or later, the spouse can receive 

52
 
Railroad Retirement Annuity Formula Components 

an unreduced annuity as early as age 60. If the spouse is entitled 

based on having a minor or disabled child in care, there is no age 

reduction. 

Reductions for other benefits 

After any applicable age reduction required for the spouse’s 

early retirement, the spouse tier I amount is reduced by the amount 

of any social security benefit to which the spouse is entitled. 

The tier I amount may also be reduced for certain Federal, State, 

or local government pension payments based on the spouse’s own 

earnings. For spouses subject to the public pension reduction, 

the tier I reduction is equal to 2/3 of the public pension. 

The spouse tier I amount may also be reduced if the employee 

under full retirement age is receiving a disability annuity and a 

workers’ compensation or public disability benefit. 

While these offsets can reduce or even erase the tier I benefit 

amount otherwise payable to a spouse, they do not affect the tier II 

benefit potentially payable to that spouse. 

Divorced spouses 

The annuity of a divorced spouse is limited to the tier I amount 

and thus equal to what social security would pay. 

TIER II 

The spouse tier II amount, before any applicable reductions, 

is 45 percent of the employee’s unreduced tier II amount. If the 

employee is awarded a vested dual benefit, the employee tier II 

amount used in computing the spouse benefit is the amount after 

the 25 percent reduction for the employee’s vested dual benefit 

entitlement. 

53
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

Age reductions 

As mentioned earlier, age reductions are gradually increasing. The tier II age reduction for spouses of employees retiring 

with less than 30 years of service is 1/144 for each of the fi rst 36 

months the spouse is under full retirement age when her or his 

annuity begins and decreases to 1/240 for each month (if any) 

over 36. However, if a railroad employee had any creditable railroad service before August 12, 1983, the employee and spouse 

retirement age for tier II purposes remains age 65. Age reductions 

are not applied to spouse annuities based on the spouse’s caring 

for a child. 

DUAL ANNUITIES 

If a spouse is also a railroad employee annuitant and both the 

employee and spouse started railroad employment after 1974, the 

amount of any spouse or divorced spouse annuity is reduced by 

the amount of the employee annuity to which the spouse is also 

entitled. 

If both the employee and spouse are railroad employees and 

either one had some railroad service before 1975, the spouse tier I 

amount is reduced by the amount of the railroad employee tier I 

to which the spouse is entitled and that initial reduction is restored 

in the spouse tier II amount. The spouse tier I amount cannot be 

reduced below zero. 

A spouse who is also entitled to a survivor annuity on a different earnings record will receive only the higher benefit. 

54
 
Railroad Retirement Annuity Formula Components 

SURVIVOR ANNUITY
 

TIER I 

The survivor tier I amount is based on the deceased employee’s combined railroad retirement and social security credits, and 

is computed using social security formulas. In general, the survivor tier I amount is equal to the amount of survivor benefi ts that 

would have been payable under social security. 

The gross survivor tier I amount (before reductions for early retirement, or other benefits) is generally equivalent to the unreduced tier I retirement benefit the deceased employee had, or 

would have, received. 

The tier I benefit for surviving aged or disabled widow(er)s, 

remarried widow(er)s, and surviving divorced spouses is based on 

average indexed monthly earnings. If the annuity begins a year 

or more after the employee’s death, and the employee died before age 62, the RRB can recalculate this indexed amount using 

a later year if it would result in a higher benefi t. The recalculation 

consid ers changes in national earnings levels which occur after 

the employee’s death but before the survivor becomes eligible for 

benefits. This provides a benefit consistent with earnings levels at 

the time of the survivor’s eligibility, rather than the time of the 

employee’s death. 

A widow(er), remarried widow(er), or surviving divorced 

spouse whose annuity begins at full retirement age or later 

receives the full tier I amount unless the deceased employee 

received an annuity that was reduced for early retirement. The 

eligibility age for a full widow(er)’s annuity is gradually rising 

from 65 to 67. The maximum age reductions will range from 

17.1 percent to 20.36 percent, depending on the widow(er)’s 

55
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

date of birth. For a surviving divorced spouse or remarried 

widow(er), the maximum age reduction is 28.5 percent. For a 

disabled widow(er), disabled remarried widow(er), or surviving 

divorced spouse, the maximum reduction is 28.5 percent, even 

if the annuity begins at age 50. 

A widow(er) or surviving divorced spouse whose eligibility 

is based on caring for a child of the employee receives 75 percent of the full tier I amount. Benefits to a surviving divorced 

spouse end when the child is 16. An eligible child also receives 

75 percent of the full tier I amount. The total amount the family 

can receive is subject to a maximum (usually applicable if there 

are three or more family members, not counting aged or disabled 

surviving divorced spouses, entitled to survivor annuities). 

A dependent parent can receive 82.5 percent of the full tier I 

amount, but if both parents are eligible, the total amount cannot 

be more than 150 percent of the full tier I amount. 

Dual benefi t reduction 

The tier I amount previously described is reduced by the amount 

of any social security benefit or by the tier I amount of any railroad 

retirement employee annuity the survivor also receives. In the case 

of a widow or dependent widower who is also a railroad employee annuitant, and either the widow(er) or the deceased employee 

had at least 10 years of railroad service before 1975, the tier I reduction may be partially restored in the survivor tier II amount. If 

either the deceased employee or the widow(er) had some railroad 

service before 1975 but less than 10 years, the survivor tier I portion is payable only to the extent that it exceeds the tier I portion 

of the widow(er)’s own employee annuity. 

56
 
Railroad Retirement Annuity Formula Components 

If a widow(er) qualifies for a railroad retirement employee 

annuity and neither the widow(er) nor the deceased employee had 

any railroad service before 1975, the survivor annuity payable to 

the widow(er) is reduced by the total amount of the widow(er)’s 

own employee annuity. 

The tier I amount may also be reduced by certain Federal, State, 

or local government pensions which are based on a widow(er)’s 

own earnings. For widow(er)s subject to the government pension 

reduction, the tier I reduction is equal to 2/3 of the public pension. 

TIER II 

Widow(er)s 

December 2001 legislation established an initial minimum 

amount which yields, in effect, a widow(er)’s tier II benefi t equal 

to the tier II benefit the employee would have received at the 

time of the award of the widow(er)’s annuity, minus any applicable age reduction. It does this by providing an additional 

amount, initially set at 50 percent of the employee’s tier II, to 

the 100 percent tier I and 50 percent tier II benefi ts provided 

under prior law. 

This additional amount is offset each year by the dol lar 

amount of any cost-of-living increases payable in both the tier I 

and tier II benefits provided under prior law. Consequently, such 

a widow(er)’s net benefit payment will not increase until such 

time as the widow(er)’s annuity, as computed under prior law with 

all interim cost-of-living increases otherwise payable, exceeds 

the widow(er)’s annuity computed under the initial minimum 

amount formula. 

57
 
RAILROAD RETIREMENT AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS
 

The initial minimum amount provision applies to widow(er)s 

whose annuities begin February 1, 2002, or later, and to some, but 

not all, widow(er)s on the rolls before that date. If, because of previous cost-of-living adjustments, annuities awarded before February 

2002 were already higher than the annuity that would be payable 

under the December 2001 legislation, the provision did not apply. 

In most cases, the same age reductions that apply to tier I 

amounts also apply to tier II amounts. 

Other survivors 

Each child receives 15 percent of the deceased employee’s 

tier II amount, and each surviving parent receives 35 percent. The 

minimum total tier II amount payable to a family is 35 percent of 

the employee’s tier II amount, and the maximum, 130 percent. 

A tier II benefit is not provided for a surviving divorced 

spouse or a remarried widow(er). However, partition payments 

may be extended to surviving former spous es pursuant to divorce 

agreements. A tier II benefit is not payable to surviving parents 

if other family members may receive benefits or if the parent has 

remarried. 

58
 
RRB FIELD OFFICES
 

RRB fi eld offices are currently located in the cities listed below. 

Each office address is available through the Field Offi ce Locator 

(at RRB.gov) or the agency's toll-free service (1-877-772-5772), 

which is equipped with an automated self-serve menu. Offi ces are 

also listed in telephone directories with other U.S. Government 

agencies. Most fi eld offices operate during the business hours of 

9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays, except for Wednesdays when 

offices are open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to noon. All RRB offices are closed on Federal holidays. 

ALABAMA IOWA NEBRASKA PENNSYLVANIA 

Birmingham Des Moines Omaha Altoona 

Harrisburg 

ARIZONA KANSAS NEW JERSEY Philadelphia 

Mesa Wichita Newark Pittsburgh 

Scranton 

ARKANSAS KENTUCKY NEW MEXICO 

Little Rock Louisville Albuquerque TENNESSEE 

Nashville 

CALIFORNIA LOUISIANA NEW YORK 

Covina New Orleans Albany TEXAS 

Oakland Buffalo Fort Worth 

Roseville MARYLAND Central Islip Houston 

Baltimore New York 

COLORADO UTAH 

Denver MASSACHUSETTS NORTH CAROLINA Salt Lake City 

Boston Charlotte 

FLORIDA VIRGINIA 

Jacksonville MICHIGAN NORTH DAKOTA Richmond 

Tampa Detroit Fargo Roanoke 

GEORGIA MINNESOTA OHIO WASHINGTON 

Atlanta Duluth Cincinnati Bellevue 

St. Paul Cleveland Spokane 

ILLINOIS 

Chicago MISSOURI OREGON WEST VIRGINIA 

Decatur 

Joliet 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 

Portland Huntington 

WISCONSIN 

INDIANA MONTANA Milwaukee 

Indianapolis Billings 

59
 
 

NON-DISCRIMINATION ON THE
 

BASIS OF DISABILITY
 

Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and RRB 

regulations, no qualified person may be discriminated against on 

the basis of disability. The RRB’s programs and activities must be 

accessible to all qualified applicants and benefi ciaries, including 

those with impaired vision and/or hearing. Individuals with disabilities needing assistance (including auxiliary aids or program 

information in accessible formats) should contact the nearest RRB 

office. Complaints of alleged discrimination by the RRB on the 

basis of disability must be filed within 90 days in writing with 

the Director of Administration, U. S. Railroad Retirement Board, 

844 North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-1275. Questions 

about individual rights under this reg ulation may be directed to the 

RRB’s Director of Equal Opportunity at the above address. 

COMMENTS? 

If you have any comments or suggestions regarding the 

presentation of information in this publication, please 

let us know. 

Public Affairs 

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board 

844 North Rush Street, Chicago, IL 60611-1275 

email: opa@rrb.gov | fax: 312-751-7154 

60
 
FRAUD, WASTE, AND ABUSE HOTLINE
 

1-800-772-4258
 

The RRB’s Office of Inspector General(OIG) established its 

Hotline as a public service. The Hotline provides individu als with 

a means to report or discuss any suspected misconduct relating 

to the RRB, its programs, or employees. 

If you believe a doctor, hospital, or other health care provider 

is billing Medicare for services not provided or for unnecessary 

medical procedures or supplies; someone is illegally receiving 

RRB benefits; or you wish to report or discuss any other suspected misconduct relating to the RRB, its programs, or employees, 

please contact the OIG at: 

 Toll-Free Hotline: 1-800-772-4258 

Mailing address: RRB-OIG Hotline Officer

 844 North Rush Street, 4th Floor 

 Chicago, Illinois 60611-1275 

fax: (312) 751-4342 

email: hotline@oig.rrb.gov 

Please review the RRB’s email notice and Internet 

privacy policy at RRB.gov before submitting any 

information online. 

Note: Please do not contact the OIG’s Hotline with questions 

regarding benefit eligibil ity requirements, delayed payments, 

or similar issues. These types of matters should be directed to 

any RRB fi eld office. 
RRB.gov 

Chicago, Illinois 60611-1275 844 North Rush Street U.S. RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD 

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

 THIRD CLASS

February 2018 IB-2  PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE, $300  OFFICIAL BUSINESS