I have recently been offered another union job doing multi craft maintenance with a reputable company. I am younger than 30 years old. My dilemma is this. When it comes time to retire would I have been better off making $70,000 a year over my career on railroad retirement or $100,000 a year over my career on social security. I know I will have a lot more money to invest and reap dividends over time with the higher paying job but I’m referring strictly to what you draw every month. I have no doubt I will enjoy the higher paying job a lot more also, just trying to weigh all the pros and cons.
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And don’t give me the”government is in charge of it” does anyone trust the government any more than the company??
Do you trust them to give you this RR retirement? These benefits go away all the time for much better companies.
I wouldn’t stay for the RR retirement. You can do a lot more investing in a 401K….. some of the old guys are going to hate me for this, but RR retirement isn’t much more of a guarantee compared to social security 30 years from now. It’ll be hurting when less people pay into it as inevitably single or even no man trains become a thing. Not to mention how crazy DC is. You can’t guarantee a law won’t be passed forcing it to be merged into social security. You can say they don’t have the authority, but who knows who could buy out who and it’s deemed just by the courts.
Get out now your job won’t be their long , the unions have been paid off . RR will go the way of the tumble weeds , we pay now to support those who are retired now . If no one is under us ... we’re f—ked.
I agree. Get out now. No job is permanent but you are waisting your time at the railroad and your money on their unions.
Jump while you can. There’s no guarantee that in 30 years there will be an retirement. Or RR job either.
Put money in a IRA and work. You will be able to retire at 62, plus you can start drawing at 59 1/2 on IRA and 401s.