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The Railroad Retirement Act: Other RRA Components

This is the fourth installment of a six-part blog series focused on the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA). You can read installment 3 here.

Below is a list of several other components related to the Railroad Retirement Act:

1. Supplemental Annuity:  Railroad employees who complete twenty five (25) years of service and commenced services before 1981 may receive a supplemental annuity under section 2(b) fo the RRA, which ranges between $23 to $43 per month.  This component is divisible upon divorce.
2. Vested Dual Benefit:  Railroad employees who meet certain vesting requirements and are fully insured under the RRA and SSA prior to 1975 are eligible for an additional benefit amount.  This component is divisible upon divorce.
3. Overall Minimum Increase:   If an employee's annuity under the RRA is less than the amount that would be received under the SSA, the employee's annuity may be increased so that the employee receives at least as much as would be received under SSA.  The amount of this increase is divisible.

If you or your spouse have been railroad employees and thus may be eligible for a RRA annuity, it is strongly recommended that you speak to a legal professional to ensure that these unique benefits are properly accounted for and distributed incident to a divorce.

Full post as published by New Jersey Law Blog on September 11, 2009 (boomark / email).