The RRB survivor annuity consists of one or two tiers and, if the particular survivors are eligible, additional annuity components may be payable.

The amount is based on the deceased's combined RR and SS earnings. It is generally equivalent to the amount that would have been payable under SS. It may be reduced for a survivor's entitlement to SS benefits payable on their own or any other person's SS earnings record, or receipt of a government pension.

NOTE: The Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law on January 5, 2025 and repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) provisions which reduced or eliminated the Social Security benefits for people who receive a government pension based on work that was not covered by Social Security (a “non-covered pension”) because they did not pay Social Security taxes. The RRB refers to the two repealed provisions (WEP and GPO) as the non-covered service pension (NCSP) reduction, which affected railroad employees, and the public service pension (PSP) offset, which applied to spouses, divorced spouses, and widows/widowers. The repeal of these provisions means that individuals who were previously affected by these reductions will retroactively have their full tier-I benefit amount restored for months after December 2023, which is the effective date of the repeal, and for future monthly benefit payments.

The tier II portion of each individual annuity is generally based on the following percentages of the tier II that the RR employee would have received if they were alive and began receiving RR retirement benefits on the survivor beginning date:

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  50% for a widow(er) or young mother/father;

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  35% for a parent; and

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  15% for a child.

There is both a minimum and maximum percentage, which will be paid in each case. The minimum percentage is 35% and the maximum percentage is 80%. The actual percentage used to compute the tier II for each annuitant depends on the number of people who are entitled to receive benefits.

The benefits payable cannot be less than the amount received as a spouse if the widow(er) had been receiving a spouse's annuity before the employee's death.

There is a special annuity that covers widow(er)s who worked for a RR if either the survivor or the deceased had 10 or more years of RR service prior to 1975. The guaranty produces an amount similar to the windfall benefit.

The Railroad Retirement and Survivor Improvement Act (RRSIA) of 2001 allows the widow(er) tier II based on 100 percent of the employee's tier II that produces a rate higher than the regular widow(er) calculation. This amount is considered the WIMA. The guarantee is effective 02/01/2002.

The WIMA is computed as a component of the 1981 Amendment tier II. Therefore, only widow(er)s and young mother/father paid under the 1981 Amendment are eligible for the guarantee. Widow(er)s and young mother/father who have zero 1981 Amendment tier II will not receive the guarantee. Remarried widow(er) and surviving divorced spouses do not receive the guarantee.

This windfall benefit was provided for vested widows and dependent widowers, see RS 01601.125D.2.