Policy and Systems

Receiving a Railroad Separation Allowance Payment

You may be entitled to an additional lump-sum payment if you received a Separation Allowance after 1984 and such payment did not provide additional railroad retirement service credits.

Computation of Lump-Sum

The Separation Allowance lump-sum payment for the year(s) the Separation Allowance was paid is computed as follows.

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Receiving a Tax Refund of Excess Social Security Tax

If, in any year before you retired, you worked for more than one railroad employer or worked in both railroad employment and social security-covered employment, your combined gross earnings from employment or net earnings from self-employment may have exceeded the tier I yearly earnings maximum for that year. You may qualify for a refund of any excess taxes that were withheld from your earnings under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) or the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA) or that you paid under the Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA).

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Change of Address

Notify the nearest RRB office immediately if you change your address, even when your monthly annuity payments are going directly to your savings or checking account. All correspondence from the RRB is sent to your home mailing address on record. This mailing address is used to send any material other than your payments to you (such as notices of cost-of-living increases, Medicare information, new Annual Earnings Exempt Amounts, and tax statements). If you do not report your change of address, the RRB cannot be responsible for any important information that you do not receive.

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Receiving Your Payments

All applicants filing for RRB benefits must choose to receive their annuity payments b y Direct Deposit to their financial institution or by Direct Express Debit MasterCard.

Even though your payments are paid electronically, be sure to keep your home address on our records current.

Direct Deposit

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How Payments Are Made

The first payment you receive from the RRB will be separate from your annuity award letter. Annuities are payable at the beginning of the month following the month for which the annuity accrued. The payment that you receive at the beginning of the month actually represents the annuity that accrued for the previous month.

Advance Filing Cases

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Notice of Decision About Your Age and Service Application

When you are ready to retire, contact your RRB field office to file your employee annuity application. Our goal is to process your application as quickly as possible. Claims for some benefits may take longer to handle than others if they are more complex, or if we have to get information from other people or organizations. If this happens, we will give you an explanation and an estimate of the time required to make a decision.

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Proof Of Military Service

Proof of military service may be a certificate of discharge, or any official military record that shows the dates of service. If you cannot locate the military service record, contact the RRB for help.

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Proof Of Death

Proof of the death of the railroad employee is required with all applications for benefits as the survivor of the railroad employee. If the death occurred inside the United States, the best proofs of death include:

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Proof Of Age

Various types of acceptable proofs of age and the places to secure them are listed below. If you are unable to obtain one of these documents, you should contact the nearest office of the RRB. The people there will be glad to assist you.

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Proof of Divorce

The best proof of divorce includes:

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