Re: (erielack) Railroad Pension

["TrainGG1_@_aol.com"]

Rairoad employees still pay railroad retirement.  There is now a complicated 
formula for deductions (Tier 1 and Tier 2), which I have had explained to me 
twice now and still do not have a grasp on what the actual difference is.

I can tell you this, if you were fully vested in BOTH Railroad Retirement AND 
Social Security BEFORE sometime in I believe June of 1973 (that is you had 
paid forty quarters, or ten years under both), then you would get two 
separate pensions.  If you were not so vested, you would get one pension -- 
albiet the benefits would be paid by (and this is just my understanding) by 
whichever plan you were vested in first...with the monies from the (other) 
plan added in under some complicated formula.

In my case, I had 19 years under railroad retirement on December 31, 1991 
when I was given a "buy-out" during a downsizing.  I had worked for four 
years prior to that under Social Security (part time) and until I returned to 
working for a railroad on January 29, 1999.  I have paid my forty quarters 
under both plans, but because I was vested in Railroad Retirement first, my 
Social Security monies will be rolled over into my Railroad Retirement when I 
take my pension.

Sound complicated?  You should have heard the accountants tell the story.

Wm. Shapotkin

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