Railroad
Retirement Act
January 1, 2023
Cost-of- Living Adjustment
Most railroad retirement annuities, like social
security benefits, will increase in January 2023
due to a rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
from the third quarter of 2021 to the
corresponding period of the current year.
Cost-of-living increases are calculated in both
the tier I and tier II portion of a railroad
retirement annuity. Tier I benefits, like social
security benefits, will increase by 8.7 percent,
which is the percentage of the CPI rise. This is
the largest increase since 1981, when it was
11.2 percent.
Tier II benefits will go up by 2.8 percent,
which is 32.5 percent of the CPI increase.
Vested dual benefit payments and supplemental
annuities also paid by the Railroad Retirement
Board (RRB) are not adjusted for the CPI change.
In January 2023, the average regular railroad
retirement employee annuity will increase $215 a
month to $3,344 and the average of combined
benefits for an employee and spouse will
increase $304 a month to $4,838. For those aged
widow(er)s eligible for an increase, the average
annuity will increase $120 a month to $1,691.
Widow(er)s whose annuities are being paid under
the Railroad Retirement and Survivors’
Improvement Act of 2001 will not receive annual
cost-of-living adjustments until their annuity
amount is exceeded by the amount that would have
been paid under prior law, counting all interim
cost-of-living increases otherwise payable. Some
49 percent of the widow(er)s on the RRB’s rolls
are being paid under the 2001 law.
If a railroad retirement or survivor annuitant
also receives a social security or other
government benefit, such as a public service
pension, any cost-of-living increase in that
benefit will offset the increased tier I
benefit. However, tier II cost-of-living
increases are not reduced by increases in other
government benefits. If a widow(er) whose
annuity is being paid under the 2001 law is also
entitled to an increased government benefit, her
or his railroad retirement survivor annuity may
decrease.
In late December the RRB will mail notices to
all annuitants providing a breakdown of the
annuity rates payable to them in January 2023.
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