Policy and Systems

Student's Annuity

You may be paid a Student's annuity if you:

are unmarried, age 18, and attending elementary or secondary school full-time;
meet the requirements to qualify as a child of the employee; and
meet the age, attendance, and school requirements to qualify you as a full-time student.

NOTE: A student who is currently receiving a Child's annuity does not need to file an application.

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Child's Annuity

In order for a child to qualify for an annuity, the child must be unmarried, under age 18, and related to the employee as a:

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A Mother's/Father's annuity is payable to a widow(er) who is caring for the employee's minor child (under age 18) or disabled child (age 18 or over and disabled before age 22) who is entitled to a Child's annuity.

A Surviving Divorced Mother's/Father's annuity is payable to an individual who is finally divorced from the employee and has in his or her care the employee's minor child (under age 16) or disabled child (age 16 or over and disabled before age 22) who is entitled to a Child's annuity.

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Widow(er)'s Annuity

An eligible widow(er) is a:

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Part II - Types of Annuities

Read more about Part II - Types of Annuities

Other Railroad Retirement Annuities

If you are entitled to more than one railroad retirement annuity, your employee annuity is not reduced for the other railroad retirement annuity. But your employee annuity can have an effect on the other railroad retirement annuity.

Spouse Annuity

If you are entitled to both a Railroad Retirement Act employee annuity based on your own earnings record and an RRA spouse annuity based on a different earnings record, the reduction to your RRA spouse annuity depends on whether or not there is railroad service before January 1, 1975, on either earnings record:

Read more about Other Railroad Retirement Annuities

Non-Covered Service Pensions

A Non-Covered Service Pension (NCSP) is any payment based on earnings for services performed after 1956 that are not covered as employment under the Social Security (SS) Act or the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA). This payment may either be a monthly check or a lump-sum payment. The NCSP payment reduced the individual’s primary insurance amount, which is calculated based on the individual’s lifetime earnings and determines the monthly Tier I annuity amount.

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Social Security Benefits

If you are entitled to Social Security (SS) benefits based on any wage record, your Tier I component will be offset for those SS benefits (before any withholding under the SS Act for your earnings over the Annual Earnings Exempt Amount). This is why your SS benefits may be certified to the RRB for payment. If you have already filed for your SS benefits, it is important to include the SS benefit information on your annuity application. This will help to prevent an overpayment of your annuity.

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Reductions for Other Benefits

Read more about Reductions for Other Benefits

Tier II and Supplemental Annuity Work Deductions

Any earnings from your Last Pre-Retirement Nonrailroad Employer (LPE) in or after the month your annuity begins will reduce your tier IIcomponent, your spouse's tier II component, and any supplemental annuity. The reduction is $1 for each $2 earned (subject to a maximum reduction of 50 percent of the tier II and the supplemental annuity).

Read more about Tier II and Supplemental Annuity Work Deductions