The federal Medicare program provides hospital and medical insurance protection for Railroad Retirement annuitants and their families, just as it does for Social Security beneficiaries. Medicare has the following parts: Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) helps pay for inpat [...]
Disability Fund Shows Strong Improvement—Twenty Years The Social Security Board of Trustees released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Social Security trust funds. The combined asset reserves of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insur [...]
Russell “Dale” Hogan, a former general chairperson and retiree of Local 933 (Jefferson City, Mo.), died April 20, 2019, after a battle with cancer. He was 76. He joined the United Transportation Union (UTU) after hiring on as a fireman for Missouri Pacific in Janu [...]
Employers and employees covered by the Railroad Retirement Act pay higher retirement taxes than those covered by the Social Security Act, so that Railroad Retirement benefits remain higher than Social Security benefits, especially for “career” employees who have 30 or more ye [...]
Willard James Moody, Sr., a well-regarded attorney and former state legislator who served as a longtime Designated Legal Counsel (DLC) for the United Transportation Union (UTU) and advocated on behalf of railroad workers in the court of law throughout his life, passed away Ma [...]
The disastrous flooding in the Midwest has affected thousands of people, including SMART Transportation Division members. To help assist those who have had their lives affected by the floods, Your Track to Health has compiled a list of services and information for behavioral [...]
A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court found that the portion of a damages award attributable to lost wages for a workplace injury is considered to be taxable compensation under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA). The decision in BNSF Railway Co. v. Loos (No. 17-1042) was r [...]
The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has announced its schedule of pre-retirement seminars for March – June 2019. The RRB hosts these seminars for rail employees and spouses who are within five years of retirement. The board recently combined their traditional informatio [...]
Every three years, the Railroad Retirement Board’s chief actuary conducts a study of the longevity of its annuitants, as part of a valuation of future revenues and benefit payments. The following questions and answers summarize the results of the most recent longevity study. [...]
If you are thinking of retiring within the next five years, you may want to consider attending a pre-retirement seminar hosted by the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB). Designed for railroad employees and spouses planning to retire, the pre-retirement seminars the RRB offers fa [...]