Hello I will be 62 on 2/8/23. I worked for the railroad from 1997-2016. I'm looking to retire at 62 and was wondering if you knew the benefit amount I would receive for the different age brackets from age 62 thru 67?

Hi. No, I'm afraid not. What I can tell you, though, is that if you apply for Social Security benefits, your benefit rate will be based only on your Social Security covered earnings, not your railroad earnings. You could use our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to calculate your respective Social Security benefit rates at ages 62 through 67, but the software isn't programmed to handle Railroad Retirement (RR) benefit computations.

When and if you apply for RR benefits, your benefit rate will be calculated by the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB). RR benefits are two tiered. Tier 1 benefits are designed to be a substitute for Social Security (SS) benefits, and they are calculated using both a person's SS and RR earnings. Tier 2 RR benefits are based only on RR earnings.

If you end up applying for both RR and SS benefits, the RRB will offset your Tier 1 RR benefits dollar for dollar by the amount of your SS benefits. So, your best filing strategy depends in large part on your relative benefit rates. You may want to contact the RRB to get an estimate of your RR benefit amounts, and to discuss your various filing options with them.

Best, Jerry