Booklet RB-3, "Furnishing Evidence to Support Your Claim" explains acceptable evidence for proofs required to process your annuity application. Shorten the processing time for your annuity application by submitting proof of your date of birth and military service to your local Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) office now, even if you will not file your application within three months. Whenever sending documents to the RRB, always include your name, social security number, and daytime telephone number where you can be reached.

We recommend that you read this booklet and booklet RB-3 before you file your annuity application.

Requirements to Receive an Age and Service Annuity

You may qualify for a monthly age and service employee annuity if you meet certain requirements. This section describes types of age and service annuities and the different conditions for each.

If you are filing for a disability annuity, you should also refer to booklet RB-1D, "Employee Disability Benefits" which explains disability annuity requirements. However, if your disability annuity is denied, and you indicate that you would accept a reduced age annuity, if eligible, read about the reduced age and service annuity.

Age Requirement

The RRB considers you to have attained your age on the day before your birthday. The age at which you can receive an age and service annuity is based on your months of railroad service:

Note: The age requirements for a supplemental annuity are here.

Cessation of Railroad Service

Your age and service annuity cannot begin until you stop all railroad work for pay and relinquish rights to railroad employment. Also note that, after the annuity is awarded, payment cannot be made for any month in which you return to work for a railroad employer.

The RRB will release a Form G-88A.1, "Request for Verification of Date Last Carried on Payroll" to your last railroad employer if your date last worked is within 15 months of the date that you file your employee annuity application. This will notify your employer of your claimed date last worked and relinquishment of rights.

Relinquishment of Rights

Before an age and service annuity can be paid, you must relinquish all seniority or other rights to return to work for any railroad employer. While an age and service annuity can begin to accrue as early as the day after you stop working for the railroad, it cannot be awarded until you relinquish rights to railroad employment.

Example: A qualified age and service applicant, who stops working on December 31, but does not relinquish rights until March 15, is entitled to an annuity from January 1. Although benefits accrue from January 1, the actual payment cannot be made before March 15, the day relinquishment of rights is accomplished.

The relinquishment of rights only affects the benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA). The relinquishment of rights does not bind the railroad should the employer choose to provide certain employee benefits (i.e., health insurance, an employee buyout) after you stop working.

• How Relinquishment of Rights is Accomplished
- To relinquish your rights to railroad employment, use your employee annuity application. Indicate that you either no longer have seniority or other rights to work for a railroad employer or, if you are filing in advance of your annuity beginning date, that you will give up those rights as of the date indicated as your last day of railroad employment.

Under advance filing procedure, you may file for an age and service annuity up to three months before your annuity beginning date. If you are still working in railroad service when you file, this means that the date that you certify on your annuity application as the date you will stop railroad service and relinquish rights is a date in the future. If your plans change, you must promptly report any change in your last day of railroad service to the nearest RRB field office. Otherwise, your annuity beginning date could be incorrect, resulting in erroneous payments.
 

• Relinquishment of Rights In Wrongful Termination Cases
- If you are prosecuting a claim before the National Railroad Adjustment Board for reinstatement and for time lost from the effective date of a termination action that you believe is wrongful, you must ask the RRB field office to include the following statement over your signature in the "Remarks" section of your employee annuity application: "I do not at this time possess any rights to return to the service of an employer. This statement shall be without prejudice to my claim that I was wrongfully deprived of such rights on (date of termination)."

You must also request the RRB field office to prepare an "Assignment of Claim" statement for your signature. This states that you will refund any annuity payments you receive for any period for which you may subsequently be awarded pay for time lost.
 

• Protest of Relinquishment of Rights
- Once effective, you cannot revoke the relinquishment of rights, even if you offer to refund the amount of the RRA annuities that were paid based on the relinquishment of rights.

Additional Requirements for Employee Annuities Based on 60-119 Months of Railroad Service with at Least 60 Months of Railroad Service after 1995

If you file for an employee disability annuity that is based on 60-119 months of railroad service with at least 60 months of railroad service after 1995, a tier 2 component is not payable to you before the month in which you attain age 62. For age and service and disability annuities, you must have a Social Security Act (SS Act) Insured Status based on combined railroad earnings, creditable military service earnings, and social security earnings to qualify yourself and your spouse for Tier 1 components.

An SS Act Insured Status is based on Quarters of Coverage (QC). In general, the SS Act specifies an amount for each calendar year that will qualify the wage earner for a QC for that year. If you earn that amount (or a multiple of that amount up to 4 QCs, your earnings record will be credited with those QCs.

You have an SS Act Insured Status if:

• Employee Annuities Based on Age - You must have a Fully Insured Status as defined in the SS Act, but using combined railroad earnings, creditable military service earnings, and social security earnings. The SS Act QC requirement for a Fully Insured Status for employees born after 1928 is 40 QCs; or,

 
• Employee Annuities Based on Disability - You must have a Disability Freeze (D/F) as defined in the SS Act, but using combined railroad earnings, creditable military service earnings, and social security earnings. The SS Act requirements are:

• You must be rated totally and permanently disabled;
   
• You must have a Fully Insured Status (Generally, the QC requirement for a Fully Insured Status is at least one QC for each calendar year after the year you attained age 21, through the year you became disabled.) and,
   
• You must have at least 20 QCs in a period of 40 consecutive calendar quarters (10 years) ending with the quarter of the disability onset date. This is also referred to as the 20-in-40 QC test.

How Family Members Can Affect Your Annuity

Information concerning your marriage history is requested on your employee annuity application to determine the possible eligibility of any spouse or divorced spouse on your earnings record. If you are married when you apply for benefits, be sure to ask the RRB representative whether your spouse is eligible for an annuity. If you are, or your spouse is, too young to qualify your spouse for benefits at that time, ask when your spouse will become eligible. Your spouse or divorced spouse is required to file a separate application to receive benefits on your earnings record. The eligibility requirements are explained in booklet RB-30, "Spouse/Divorced Spouse Annuity".

You may also be eligible for an increase in your annuity called the Special Guaranty computation, if members of your family meet the requirements under Social Security (SS) Act rules using your railroad service as if it had been covered under the SS Act. In most cases, your regular railroad retirement annuity rate will exceed the amount that the Social Security Administration (SSA) would have paid. Therefore, your annuity application asks only for basic information, such as the number of children you have who would qualify under this provision. The term child includes your unmarried natural child, or dependent and unmarried adopted child, stepchild, or, under certain conditions, your grandchild if both parents are deceased or disabled.

Your child may be included in the Special Guaranty computation if the child is:

• under age 18;
• age 18 or older with a permanent disability that began before the child attained age 22 that makes the child unable to perform any type of regular employment; or,
• age 18-19 and in full-time attendance at an elementary or secondary school.

The RRB field office where you file your application will test your annuity rate to determine if the Special Guaranty could apply. If it could apply, our field office will contact you for further information. For more information on the Special Guaranty computation, read booklet G-179, "Special Guaranty in Employee and Spouse Annuities".

Credit for Railroad Work

As previously explained, you must stop all railroad work in order to qualify for an employee annuity. A railroad employer is any company or labor organization covered under the RRA. Covered railroad employers include railroads that engage in interstate business, railroad associations, and national railway labor organizations.

Actual Railroad Service

Your employer reports your railroad service and earnings to the RRB under your social security number. Shortly after each year in which you have railroad earnings, the RRB mails Form BA-6 Certificate of Service Months and Compensation to you. This annual statement has a record of your creditable subsequent service months and compensation after 1936 and verified military service credits.

You can also call the RRB Help Line, at 1-800-808-0772, to request Form G-90c, "Service and Compensation History Statement" for a record of your railroad earnings.

Deemed Railroad Service

For years after 1984, you may be entitled to additional railroad service months if you did not actually work in every month of the year. For additional service months to be deemed, your compensation for the year must exceed an amount equal to 1/12 of the tier 2 maximum multiplied by the number of railroad service months you actually worked. The excess amount is then divided by 1/12 of the Tier 2 maximum. The result, rounded up to a whole number, is the number of deemed railroad service months.

In order to qualify for these deemed railroad service months, you must have had an employment relation for the months you did not perform actual railroad service. This means that you were:

• on bona fide leave of absence from the employer;
• not retired or discharged, but by reason of continuous disability, unable to return to service;
• out of service by reason of discharge later determined to be wrongful; or,
• an employee representative or employee of an employee representative.

Deemed service months cannot be given for months after the beginning date of your annuity or after the date you relinquish rights to railroad employment.

Credit for Military Service

Proof of Military Service

If you ever served in active duty in the United States Armed Forces, the RRB may be able to use that military service to increase your annuity. You must first submit a copy of your latest Department of Defense Form 214, or any official record that shows your dates of federal military service.

Shorten the processing time of your future benefit application by submitting proof of your military service now. When sending documents to the RRB, always include your name, your social security number and a daytime telephone number where you can be reached.

If your military service records were destroyed, either in the 1973 fire in the National Records Center at St. Louis, or in some other way, you may request a new military service record with Form SF-180, "Request Pertaining to Military Records". This form is available from the RRB or in the Research Room at US National Archives and Records Administration.

Basic Requirements Under the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA)

The Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) allows credit for military service that began in a war period or period of national emergency and for involuntary (draft) military service. This prevents career railroad employees from losing retirement credits while actively serving in the national defense. To receive credit for military service, you must always meet one of the general railroad service requirements of Section 1 below and must meet one of the specific requirements in Section 2, Section 3, or Section 4 which follow.

• General Requirements under RRA - The RRA allows credit for military service as railroad service months only if, prior to the beginning of your military service either in the same calendar year or in the next preceding calendar year, as the enlistment, induction or call from inactive duty, you:

 
• performed compensated service for an employer under the RRA;
• were entitled to Pay for Time Lost as an employee for an employer under the RRA; or,
• were serving as an employee representative as defined in the RRA.
   
• Involuntary Military Service and Periods Of Creditable Voluntary Military Service - Involuntary military service is always creditable under the RRA. In addition, voluntary military service that began in the following war periods or periods of national emergency are creditable:

 
• September 8, 1939 through June 14, 1948 (If you voluntarily entered military service January 1, 1947 through June 14, 1948, you can only receive credit through June 14, 1948);
• June 15, 1948 through December 15, 1950, provided the additional requirements described in Section 3 are met;
• December 16, 1950 through September 14, 1978 (but any voluntary active duty extending beyond September 14, 1978, is not creditable); and,
• August 2, 1990 to a date not yet determined.

In addition to these war periods or periods of national emergency, some active duty in the federal military reserve may be creditable as explained in Section 4 below.
 

• Voluntary Military Service in the Period June 15, 1948, through December 15, 1950 - Railroad workers who voluntarily served in the Armed Forces between June 15, 1948 and December 15, 1950, can be given railroad service credit for their military service. In addition to the requirement of railroad service prior to entering active military service described in Section 1 above, the RRA allows credit for voluntary active military service in the period June 15, 1948, through December 15, 1950, if you:

 
• performed compensated service for an employer under the RRA in the year released from active military service or in the next year; and,
• did not work for a nonrailroad employer after leaving military service and before resuming railroad employment.
   
• Creditable Military Reserve Duty - Members of a reserve component of the uniformed services who are called to active duty can receive railroad service credits for any such active duty or active duty for training, provided that one of the requirements described in Section 1 above was met as of the date called up.

Basic Requirements Under the Social Security Act Rules

Since most military service performed after 1956 is creditable under the SS Act, the wage credits are posted to your SS Act wage record. The few cases in which military service is not creditable under the SS Act involve military service performed before 1957 that was either less than 90 days or that had a type of discharge other than honorable.

When military service is used as railroad service months in your Tier 2 component, the SS Act prohibits the use of the same military service as wages.

Affect in Your Annuity Rate

• Tier 1 Component - Military service creditable under the RRA or SS Act can be used to increase the yearly earnings amounts used in the computation of your Tier 1 component, subject to the yearly earnings maximum. This is true even when the same military service is used as railroad service months in your Tier 2 component.

If you qualified for an annuity based on 60-119 months of railroad service with at least 60 months of railroad service after 1995, military service creditable under the RRA or SSA can be used as compensation Quarters of Coverage to meet the total minimum 40 QCs necessary for the SSA Insured Status requirement for a Tier 1 component. This is true even when the same military service is used as railroad service months in your Tier 2 component.
 

• Tier 2 Component and Supplemental Annuity - Military service creditable under the RRA can be used as railroad service months in the computation of your Tier 2 component or supplemental annuity. However, only one railroad service credit is allowed for a calendar month. If you have actual railroad service in the same month as the military service, only one railroad service credit is given for that month.
   
• Vested Dual Benefit (VDB) - If you have at least 120 months of railroad service before 1975 and acquired an SSA insured status before 1975, you can receive an additional annuity component called the Vested Dual Benefit (VDB). Military service performed before 1975, creditable under SS Act rules, can be used as wages and wage Quarters of Coverage before 1975, to help meet the “wages only” requirements for a VDB. However, when military service is used as railroad service months in your Tier 2 component, the SS Act prohibits the use of military service as wage Quarters of Coverage for a VDB.

Current Connection

You must have a Current Connection with the railroad industry in order to receive a supplemental annuity or an occupational disability annuity. Future survivor benefits can be paid by the RRB only if you have a Current Connection. The RRB will determine whether or not you have a Current Connection when your annuity application is processed.

Requirements for Regular Current Connection

You have a regular Current Connection with the railroad industry if you meet either of the following conditions:

• you worked for a railroad in at least 12 of the 30 consecutive months before the month in which your annuity begins; or,
• you worked in the railroad industry in at least 12 months in any other period of 30 consecutive months before the month your annuity begins without any intervening regular employment.

Work That Will Not Break Current Connection

The following types of work do not break a Current Connection:

• Work for the following government agencies will not break your Current Connection:

 
• Alaska Railroad (as long as it is owned by the State of Alaska);
• U.S. Department of Transportation;
• Surface Transportation Board (or its predecessor the Interstate Commerce Commission);
• National Mediation Board;
• National Transportation Safety Board; or,
• Railroad Retirement Board.
   
• Service for a railroad whose principal operation is in Canada and service by a Canadian citizen in Canada for a railroad whose principal operation is in the United States.
   
• Self-employment as defined under the Railroad Retirement Act.
   
• Nonrailroad work after your annuity beginning date.

Deemed Current Connection

If you do not have a regular Current Connection, you may have a Deemed Current Connection for a supplemental annuity or future benefits payable to your survivors. Your Current Connection is deemed to be maintained, even if you have regular nonrailroad employment before your annuity begins, if you:

• have at least 25 years of railroad service; and,
• either stopped working in the railroad industry "involuntarily and without fault" for a non-medical reason on, or after, October 1, 1975, or, were on furlough or leave of absence or were absent because of injury on or after October 1, 1975, and were not called back to work; and,
• did not decline an offer to return to railroad employment in the same "class or craft" as your most recent railroad service (regardless of the number of miles you would have had to move to accept such job).

NOTE: An employee cannot be on furlough, leave of absence, or absent because of injury status after relinquishment of rights to railroad service.

If you meet all the above requirements, your Current Connection would not be broken, even if you work in regular employment after your 30-month period and before retirement or death.

Proof of Deemed Current Connection

RRB records will confirm if you have 25 years of service.

You must supply the proof that you did not voluntarily end your railroad employment. The best evidence is the letter from your employer that describes the circumstances of your separation. Other acceptable proofs are personnel, payroll, and health insurance records that show your employment status. If none of these documents exist when your application is filed, it will be necessary for you to secure an affidavit from a railroad or union official or from two of your former co-workers who can be identified by the RRB as railroad employees.

Requirements For Supplemental Annuity

Some retired railroad employees may be eligible to receive a supplemental annuity from the RRB. This is in addition to the regular age and service or disability annuity.

Requirements for a Supplemental Annuity

To be eligible for the supplemental annuity, you must meet all of the following requirements:

• Age and Railroad Service - You must be at least age 65 with at least 300 months (25 years) of creditable railroad service, or at least age 60 with at least 360 months (30 years) of creditable railroad service. (Note that the age requirement for the supplemental annuity is not affected by the definition of Full Retirement Age (FRA));
   
• Qualified for Annuity - You must be eligible for, and have filed for, an age and service or disability annuity. The supplemental annuity can never begin before the regular age and service or disability annuity;
   
• Railroad Service Before October 1, 1981 - You must have railroad service creditable to at least one month before October 1, 1981; and,
   
• Current Connection - You must have a Current Connection with the railroad industry.

Reduction for Employer Pension

The amount of your supplemental annuity is reduced if you are receiving a monthly pension from your railroad employer that is based in whole or in part on railroad employer contributions. It is also reduced for any lump-sum distribution of the employer contributions that you receive from your pension plan, in lieu of a monthly rate. The lump-sum distribution is considered to be paid, even if you roll-over the funds to another pension account. Your own contributions to your pension account do not affect your supplemental annuity.

On your annuity application, you will be asked to include the name of the railroad employer(s) with whom you still hold pension rights (other than railroad retirement). Indicate the category (choose one only) that most accurately applies to the job position that vested you for the employer monthly pension or lump-sum pension payment.

The RRB will forward Form G-88p, "Employer's Supplemental Pension Report" to your railroad employer when you:

• are retiring from a job position that is covered by an employer monthly pension or lump-sum pension plan that could cause a reduction to your RRB supplemental annuity or
• indicate that you are receiving, or will receive, an employer monthly pension or lump-sum pension payment.