Railroad Retirement Benefits for My Spouse?
By Jenn King
We’ve discussed how your railroad retirement benefits, Tier I and Tier II, work in a previous blog. Your spouse has been by your side for many of those railroad years and you know they are supposed to receive some type of spousal retirement benefit. But what will they receive?
First, they must qualify to receive the benefit.
In order to qualify, you and your spouse have to have been married at least 1 year when you retire or share a child together under the age of 18.
If you have spent 30 years in Railroad retirement and you are 60 you get the awesome benefit of receiving your retirement benefits early. When your spouse turns age 60, they TOO can get their spousal annuity. No need to wait until age 62 like Social Security.
If you have LESS than 30 years’ service and are age 62, your spouse is also eligible once they are 62. Just like with Social Security, the monthly benefit will be a reduced benefit because it is being drawn prior to your spouse’s Full Retirement Age.
How is the Railroad Retirement Spousal Benefit determined?
Generally, the spousal annuity is HALF of your Tier I benefits and about 45% of your Tier 2 Benefits and is dependent on your age, your employee retirement date and how many years of railroad service.
I heard that spousal benefits might be offset by other benefits. Tier 1 benefits may be OFFSET from other benefits your spouse may receive. What would cause an offset?
Reduction from any Social Security entitlement whether it is based on the spouse’s earning, the employee’s earnings or earnings of another person. Just like Social Security, your spouse will receive the higher of the benefits payable to them.
If your spouse receives a Federal, State or local pension based on their own earnings.
**Military service pensions or payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs generally do not reduce Tier 1 benefits.
Only Tier 1 Benefits can be offset, NOT Tier II spousal benefits.
Both my spouse and I are Railroaders – how does that work?
If you and your spouse are both Railroaders do you both receive spousal benefits IN ADDITION to your own benefits? IT DEPENDS.
If you both started in the Railroads before 1974, then you are the lucky ones – BOTH OF YOU can receive your own railroad benefit AND a spousal entitlement benefit.
If you started after 1974, then NO – YOUR spousal annuity benefit will be reduced by your employee annuity. No double benefits.
My spouse and I have gotten a divorce – now what happens? Will my ex-spouse still be able to receive the spousal annuity?
Just like Social Security, your ex-spouse CAN receive benefits based upon your record. To do this they must have:
Been married to you for at least 10 consecutive years
Not remarried
Not be entitled to a social security benefit (before any reductions) on their own earnings record that exceeds the amount of the divorced spouse railroad annuity.
If your ex-spouse draws benefits based on your work record, does that mean you will get a reduction in benefits? NO.
Are they entitled to receive Tier 2 Benefits? Generally, NO. However, they could receive Tier 2 benefits if the entitlement was part of the property settlement agreement.
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There are other spousal benefits and family benefits that are part of Railroad employment – Survivorship benefits, Disability, Unemployment, etc. – all of which we will cover in future monthly blogs in our Client Resources section. Make sure you and your spouse are fully aware of ALL the benefits you are entitled to. These benefits are one of the many reasons so many value their time being a Railroader!
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