Social Security Benefits or Other Railroad Retirement Annuities

Social security benefits or other railroad retirement annuities will reduce the student’s benefit.

• In Special Guaranty cases, any social security benefits or other railroad retirement benefits that any student receives, on the employee's earnings record or on someone else's earnings record, are deducted from the increase to the employee’s annuity based on the student benefit; or,
• In survivor cases, the receipt of social security benefits on a different claim number reduces the student Tier 1 benefits. If the student is entitled to more than one RRB survivor annuity, only the higher of the two annuities is payable.

Payments From Employers

A child cannot be entitled as a student if the child’s employer asks or requires the child to attend school and pays the child for doing so.

Annual Earnings Exempt Amount

Earnings from nonrailroad employment can affect student benefits. The term Annual Earnings Exempt Amount means the yearly amount of money a student can earn from nonrailroad employment without losing railroad retirement benefits. (Note: This is the same as the Annual Earnings Exempt Amount for an employee and a survivor annuitant who has not attained their full retirement age and will not attain their full retirement age in that year.)

Nonrailroad Earnings in a Special Guaranty Case

When the employee’s annuity is based on age and the employee has earnings over the Annual Earnings Exempt Amount for the employee's age group, the excess is charged against the employee benefit and the benefits of all others included in the family group. Refer to Form G-77a How Work Affects Your Railroad Retirement Benefits, for current Annual Earnings Exempt Amounts.

If a student has earnings over the Annual Earnings Exempt Amount, the excess is charged against the amount that the student benefit increases the Special Guaranty rate only. A student will lose up to $1 in benefits for every $2 of earnings over the Annual Earnings Exempt Amount. In some cases, the reduction for earnings for one family member is offset by an increase to the Special Guaranty benefit computed for other family members.

If a student works outside the United States for 45 or more hours in a month and does not pay Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) or Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA) taxes for this work, the student benefit in the Special Guaranty will be reduced, regardless of the amount of money earned.

Nonrailroad Earnings in a Survivor Annuity

If students have earnings over their Annual Earnings Exempt Amount, the excess is charged against the students’ annuities. Students will lose up to $1 in benefits for every $2 of earnings over their Annual Earnings Exempt Amount. The reduction for earnings for students does not create an increase to railroad retirement annuities computed for other family members. Refer to Form G-77, How Earnings Affect Payment of Survivor Annuities for current Annual Earnings Exempt Amounts.

If a student works outside the United States for 45 or more hours in a month and does not pay FICA or SECA taxes for this work, the student’s annuity will be reduced, regardless of the amount of money earned.

Railroad Earnings in a Special Guaranty Case

A student who is working for a railroad may be included in the family group for the Special Guaranty rate, provided all other entitlement requirements are met. When determining student earnings over the Annual Earnings Exempt Amount from employment, also include the student’s railroad compensation.

Railroad Earnings in a Survivor Annuity

Students cannot be paid survivor annuities for any month in which they work for a railroad or other employer in the railroad industry.

Stepchild Dependency

Students benefits for the Special Guaranty rate end if a stepchild is no longer dependent on the employee.

Terminating Events

Student benefits end when the student marries, dies or enters active military service.

Imprisonment or Confinement Due to a Conviction for a Criminal Offense

The amount of student benefits may be affected if the student is imprisoned or under a sentence of confinement due to a conviction for a criminal offense.

A crime is a criminal offense if it is considered to be a criminal offense under applicable law. Most states define certain crimes as criminal offenses. However, some states and foreign countries do not classify crimes as criminal offenses. If a crime has not been classified as a criminal offense, it is still considered to be a criminal offense if it is a crime punishable by death or imprisonment for more than one year.

To be imprisoned or under a sentence of confinement means confinement to a jail, prison or other penal institution or correctional facility. This includes any facility, which is under the control and jurisdiction of a penal system, or any facility in which a person may be confined. This also includes hospitals, institutions and halfway houses, which are used as places of confinement. Persons under sentence of confinement to any of these facilities are considered confined even though they may go outside the facility to work, attend school or for some other reason.

Prisoners who are released on parole or because their sentence has ended, been suspended or overturned are no longer considered to be confined or imprisoned.

Monitoring Student Entitlement

During the year of student entitlement, student monitoring is scheduled for September, March, and when entitlement ends. The RRB field office nearest you releases a monitoring Form G-315 Student Questionnaire or monitoring Form G-320 Student Questionnaire for Special Guaranty Computation to obtain current full-time school attendance information. This information must be sent to the RRB within 30 days of receipt of the monitoring form. Failure to do so may create an overpayment of student benefits.

For home schooling, updated documentation, such as current attendance records, updated course of studies, current test scores and current evaluations should also be included.