6 Myths When It Comes to Railroad Retirement

Transcript:

Watch as I take down six big myths when it comes to your railroad retirement.

Welcome, everyone, to another edition of the Highball Advisors Railroad Retirement Whiteboard. My name is John McNamara of Highball Advisors, and today, I'm kind of excited today's whiteboard, because, over the years I hear a lot of stories, and I'm sure everybody out there hears a lot of stories, a lot of myths out there. So, these are my top six myths that I came up with. And, maybe in the comment section, you guys can put down some more myths down there, or actually just more questions in the comment sections, about what you think. So these were my top six myths that I just want to address and shed a little light, a little light is always good, when it comes to your railroad retirement.

So myth number one, you lose your railroad retirement, when you get another job. You leave the railroad, and people believe that you've lost your railroad retirement. Not true, as long as you have those five years. Now, if it's less than five years, you've lost. Okay. But at five years and over, you will always get railroad retirement, even if you go work for a non-railroad job. So, let's put that one to bed. That's usually the biggest one. You will get railroad retirement. Okay.

Second one. Can I collect social security and railroad retirement? Not at the same time. Some people say, "Oh, I can get same..." No. That's double-dipping. Can't do that. There are strategies to collect railroad retirement, and then time it with social security, turning one on, turning one off. Check out my video, How to Collect Social Security and Railroad Retirement. A lot of good stuff in there. But you can't double dip. But there is ways to do that. So, that's myth number two. We'll keep moving here. Right?

Number three, railroad retirement won't be there when I retire. I get that. A little nervousness. You see government spending a lot of money and all those type of things. So, I just did a video on how sound is railroad retirement. Check that one out. Needless to say, it will be there. Okay. It's very good. You can bank on it. It's fine. 2094, earliest. I mean, that's as far as the test went, so it's good. So, that, you can put that one to bed. Railroad retirement will be there.

Now, the next one, railroad retirement is a rip-off. I don't get this one at all. Railroad retirement is one of the best things ever, from an investor's point of view. Where else can I grow my money, risk-free and have a guaranteed retirement income? It is not a rip off. You pay your 4.9% tax. I go, "Oh yeah, I got to pay tax." But the benefits that you're getting out of railroad retirement are fantastic. Remember, the railroad's putting in 13.4%. So, it is not a rip off. I don't work for the railroad. No, I don't. So, I would sign up for it, if I could. Maybe I should get railroad retirement, because I'm helping railroaders. But no, that's not the case. But, needless to say, railroad retirement is not a ripoff. So, I don't know where that one comes from. It's a great deal. All right.

Another one, delayed retirement credits. So, people go past full retirement age. You can get delayed retirement credits, if you're on social security or tier one. There's no delayed retirement credits for tier two. So, after full retirement age, that money, you're losing by not taking it. They don't pay you back on it with a big lump sum check. So, there is no delayed retirement credits. So, that's big part of your planning is, when you decide to go past full retirement age, you are sacrificing your tier two benefits. So, learn about that.

And then the last one is kind of a big one. Oh, it is a big one. Spouse gets survivor annuity upon railroader's death. That's not true either. That survivor annuity, it depends upon the situation. If they have minor children, this assuming the railroader's not retired, a minor children, then there's a survivor annuity. Or, if the spouse is disabled, then you can get the survivor annuity. However, survivor annuity won't kick in until 62 years old. So, that's something to think about. It could be 60, if the railroader had 30 years. Now, remember, if the railroader's retired, and is already receiving their retirement annuity, you get the survivor annuity right away. But, that's an important one for that estate planning. Making sure all your bases are covered, in case something unfortunate happens to you.

So, these were my top six myths that I came up with over the years I had been doing... Working with railroaders. So, please send your other myths in, or questions about it, and I'll add them. Maybe we'll do next your 15 top myths or whatever. Whatever is around the water cooler, let me know. All right. So, everyone, please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Share this video. Maybe we can start destroying some of these myths together. Click on the notification bell to get the latest videos. Until next time, everyone. Please, stay safe, stay on track, and take care. So long, everybody. Bye.

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