How is My Railroad Retirement Affected By Working Past 30 Years?

Welcome everyone to another edition of the Highball Advisors Railroad Retirement Mailbag. My name's John McNamara of Highball Advisors. Today's question comes in from a King, PA. "I started on the railroad back in 2009, when I was 19. I'll be 49 when I hit my 30 years," which is fantastic. "Is the money I put into railroad retirement for the 11 years after that going to benefit me at all?" Right? He wants to know, "I got my 30 years. Is that the most I can ever make?" is basically the question. So, if you continue to work for the railroad, your tier two is going to be growing. So, that will be good. Right? Because that's one of the multiples in the calculation for tier two. And then your tier one's your top 35 highest earning years, so any higher earning years that you continue to work, that will increase your railroad retirement.

Now, you say, "I got my 30 years," and you switch to a non-railroad position, then your tier two freezes and that won't move anymore, but your tier one portion will increase. And just remember, when you do retire, that tier two freezes. Check out my video, After 30 Years Does Working Elsewhere Increase My Railroad Retirement? And that should answer a lot of your questions. All right, railroaders, send in your questions. Maybe I'll shoot a video on them. Until next time, everyone, please stay safe, stay on track, and take care. So long, everybody. Bye.

Associated Video: "After 30 Years, Does Working Elsewhere Past 30 Years?" https://youtu.be/nNbiVZLHQ0k

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