Railroaders' Nostalgia > Railroad Retirement Board

I left railroad service in 1982 with less than ten years' service credit. I understand that I do not qualify for a pension benefit.

Short of reading the fine print, are there any other benefits whatsoever from the US RRB?

Less than 10 years, you get s/s.

What if you left after less than 10 then came back and the total is 10 or more?

I believe your RRB credits roll into SS when you leave before being vested. So coming back later means starting from scratch. At least, that's how it was for me.

Thanks, all! I'm at that point in life where you realize, suddenly, that you're inside the yard limits and about to hit the switch. Not ready to mark off yet!

Thanks for the info so far. Anyone know the source to get a final answer?

May I suggest you just place a call to RRB? I retired last year and prior to that date I telephoned two or three times and the person was very helpful.

Oh, of course I will call the RRB, and I will first read the circular and FAQ's. You're all great guys, probably, but I'm not making lifetime financial decisions based on information offered here.

This was just a quick question to the "user base" of RRB members.

I got a helpful response that caused me to check my SSA statement. That is one of those chores, like inspecting the earthquake kit, which is easy to postpone but important to accomplish.

You might find something in Robert Kaufman's column:

http://benefitslink.com/modperl/qa.cgi?db=qa_railroad_retirement#.U71YYGt5mSM

Tier 1 will roll back into SS, Tier 2 will not , you leave railroad service you lose your Tier 2 money you have paid in .

Less than 10 years with a later return to service will cumulatively count. I had broken service (9 year gap) but the first 4 years were counted by RRB. Also you get month-for-month credit if you were in the service during a "wartime" (ex: Vietnam) even though not connected to the railroad during service.

What adds to confusion is that until you retire under RRB, all your SSI contributions are accounted for separately, including your military earnings, and you receive separate annual earnings statements from the SS Administration (which will show zero SSI contributions for those years you pay into the RRB). What the RRB counts during military service is the time towards your 30 years. When you retire under RRB, the SSI stuff is rolled into your RRB.

You might want to check out this website: http://www.narvre.org/

Maybe they can add something.

Thanks!