Social Security benefits for family with Railroad Retirement - Post WEP confusion

i think your son can only get benefits from one of you, whichever is higher. not both. and yes, anything they take away because your husband is still working gets added back into his check when he hits full retirement age. That happened with my dad.

You've got several questions here, so let me try to address them one by one: 1. Yes, your husband can apply for Social Security without applying for his Railroad Retirement Tier 1 benefits. However, he should be aware that the two systems are coordinated. The RRB and SSA will determine his combined benefit amount. 2. Regarding filing early for your son's benefit: Your son can only receive benefits on one record at a time - whichever provides the higher benefit amount. If your husband's PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) is higher than yours, then it might make sense for him to file, even if his own benefits would be reduced to zero by the Retirement Earnings Test (RET). 3. No, your son cannot receive dependent benefits from both records simultaneously. SSA will pay based on whichever record provides the higher benefit. 4. The family maximum applies separately to each record. So there's a maximum on your record and a separate maximum on your husband's record. 5. Yes, when your husband reaches his Full Retirement Age (FRA), SSA will recalculate his benefit and give him credit for months when his benefit was reduced or withheld due to the RET. This comes in the form of a permanent increase to his monthly benefit amount going forward, not a lump sum payment. Hope this helps clarify things!

Yes, if your son starts receiving benefits on your husband's record (because it provides a higher amount), the benefits he's currently receiving on your record would stop. SSA will only pay benefits on one record at a time - whichever provides the higher benefit amount. Before making any decisions, I'd recommend calculating how much your son would receive on each record. Generally, a child receives up to 50% of the parent's PIA (not the reduced benefit amount if taken early). So you'd want to compare 50% of your PIA versus 50% of your husband's PIA to see which would be more advantageous.

I need to correct my previous statement. The commenter is right - I apologize for the confusion. For retirement benefits (as opposed to disability), a child's benefit is based on 50% of the parent's actual benefit amount, not the PIA. So if you've taken reduced benefits by filing early, your child's benefit is 50% of that reduced amount. This is an important distinction that could significantly impact your decision-making. Thank you to the commenter for pointing this out.

I just went through something similar with my spouse who had railroad retirement. The biggest thing to know is that you need to talk to BOTH agencies. When I called Social Security about my RR spouse, they gave me wrong info 3 times!!! I kept getting disconnected or waiting hours on hold with both agencies. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to RRB and SSA faster. Their service connected me with both agencies in under 20 minutes instead of the hours I was spending on hold. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The RRB agent I finally spoke with explained everything clearly and helped coordinate with SSA. Definitely worth getting the right info directly from both agencies before making any decisions.

your making this WAY more complicatd than it needs to be!!! just have ur husband wait til 70 to file for anything. he'll get the most money that way and ur kid will be 18 by then anyway so no point in fileing early for the kids benefit. kids benefit stops at 18 unless their disabled.

I think everyone is missing an important fact here! With the repeal of WEP, there are going to be changes to how Railroad Retirement and Social Security interact. Some of the old rules about dual entitlement may change. The full implementation guidance hasn't been issued yet, so any decision you make now might need to be revisited. In your shoes, I'd wait a few months until all the new regulations are published following the WEP repeal before making any decisions about your husband filing. You've already secured benefits for your son on your record, so there's no immediate rush. The RRB and SSA are still sorting out all the implications of these changes.

My situation was kind of similar but without the railroad part. I filed early at 62 with a 9 year old and my wife waited until her FRA. One thing nobody mentioned is that the family maximum is pretty low when YOU file early. It limited what my kid got. Also the whole 50% thing gets confusing because it's 50% of something but the family maximum can reduce it. The SSA explanation of family maximum calculations makes my head hurt LOL!!!

Based on all the discussion here, I'd recommend these steps: 1. Given the recent WEP repeal, wait a few months for updated guidance from both SSA and RRB before making any decisions about your husband filing. 2. Request a benefit verification letter from SSA that shows your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount), your current benefit amount, your son's benefit amount, and the family maximum on your record. 3. Have your husband request his Social Security Statement to see what his PIA would be. 4. With those numbers in hand, you can calculate whether it makes sense for your husband to file early just for your son's benefit. 5. Consider that your son's benefit eligibility will end when he turns 18 (or 19 if still in high school), so filing early only provides benefits for a limited time. 6. Remember that if your husband files early but continues working, his eventual benefit at FRA will be recalculated to account for months when benefits were withheld due to the Retirement Earnings Test. This approach gives you concrete numbers to work with while allowing time for the policy implications of the WEP repeal to become clearer.