If I Quit Wtih 25 Years of Service, Does My Railroad Retirement Go to Social Security

Welcome back to another edition of the Highball Advisors Railroad Retirement Mailbag. I’m John McNamara with Highball Advisors, and today’s question comes from Chris H. He writes:

“I’m 51 years old with 25 and a half years of service—306 months. If I were to leave the railroad today and work at Home Depot until age 62, would I still be eligible to collect a reduced Railroad Retirement benefit with a 30% cut, or would I be switched over to Social Security?”

Great question, Chris.

First off, I encourage you to think carefully before walking away from the railroad with 25.5 years of service. You're very close to a significant milestone—30 years of service or 360 months—which makes a huge difference in your retirement benefits.

To answer your question: Yes, if you leave the railroad today and go work elsewhere, you would still be eligible to collect Railroad Retirement benefits at age 62—not Social Security—but you would face the 30% age-based reduction since you’d be collecting early without having reached the 30 years of service threshold.

However, if you stayed with the railroad until you reached 30 years of service and then retired at age 60, you could receive your full Railroad Retirement benefits with no age reduction.

This is a critical decision with long-term financial consequences. For more insights, check out my video “Things to Consider When Leaving the Railroad”, which covers scenarios just like this in more detail.

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