Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer. Working after you start collecting railroad retirement can cost you benefits in three different ways, and they don’t share one number. For ordinary nonrailroad work under full retirement age, the 2026 annual exempt amount is $24,480 ($1 withheld per $2 over), rising to $65,160 in the year you reach full retirement age ($1 per $3 over): the same mechanics Social Security uses, because the statute ties this directly to the Social Security Act. Survivors get the identical 2026 dollar figures under a separate legal provision. Separately, there’s a flat, no-exception bar: any compensated work for a railroad in a given month, at any dollar amount, blocks that month’s annuity entirely. And if you go back to work for your last pre-retirement nonrailroad employer, a third rule applies: a $1-for-$2 deduction against your Tier II with no exempt amount at all, capped at 50% of Tier II, that keeps applying even after full retirement age.
All four rules, stated directly by the RRB
1. The ordinary Tier I test (employees, spouses, and survivors under full retirement age): “In 2026, the annual exempt amount for less than full retirement age annuitants is $24,480. The monthly exempt amount for the first year of retirement in 2026 is $2,040.” And: “In 2026, the annual exempt amount for full retirement age annuitants is $65,160. The monthly exempt amount for the first year of retirement in 2026 is $5,430.” The deduction: “$1 in benefits for every $2 of earnings over the exempt amount” under full retirement age, or “$1 for every $3” in the FRA-attainment year. This is directly tied to Social Security’s own earnings test by statute (45 U.S.C. §231a(f)(1)), and survivors get the same dollar figures under a separate provision (§231a(g), cross-referencing Social Security Act §203(f)).
2. The flat railroad-work bar: “No annuity…shall be paid with respect to any month in which an individual in receipt of an annuity…shall render compensated service to an employer”, and the RRB confirms this applies “even if the retired or disabled employee performed service for one day during the month,” regardless of age or the dollar amount earned.
The numbers
| Rule | Who it applies to | 2026 limit | What’s withheld |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary earnings test | Employees, spouses, survivors under FRA | $24,480/yr under FRA; $65,160/yr in FRA year | Tier I only, $1 per $2 (or $3) over |
| Any railroad work | Any annuitant | No exempt amount: a flat bar | Entire annuity for that month |
| Last pre-retirement nonrailroad employer | Retired employees and spouses, any age | No exempt amount | Tier II/supplemental, $1 per $2, capped at 50%, continues past FRA |
| Occupational disability | Disability annuitants under FRA | $1,320/month (2026), up from $1,260 in 2025 | Entire annuity for any month over the limit: a hard cliff, not a phase-out |
The disability cliff, and the nonrailroad-employer rule
Occupational and total disability annuitants face a stricter, monthly-only test with no annual exempt amount at all: “special restrictions limiting earnings to $1,320 in 2026, exclusive of disability-related work expenses, apply to disabled railroad retirement employee annuitants…These work restrictions apply even if the annuitant has 30 years of railroad service” and continue until full retirement age. The statutory default is $700/month, wage-indexed upward each year (45 U.S.C. §231a(e)(4)).
The last-pre-retirement-employer rule is easy to miss because it has no dollar floor at all: “Retired employees and spouses, regardless of age, who work for their last pre-retirement nonrailroad employer are subject to an earnings deduction of $1 for every $2 in earnings up to a maximum reduction of 50 percent of their tier II component…There is no earnings exempt amount for these deductions…while tier I earnings deductions stop when an annuitant attains full retirement age, these tier II…deductions apply for as long as the annuitant is working for their last pre-retirement employer” (45 U.S.C. §231a(f)(6)).
Sources
Railroad Retirement Board, Program Letter PL 26-01, “Notice of Annual Rates 2026,” dated 2025-12-01, read at rrb.gov on 2026-09-04. RRB QA2605, “Reporting Events and Activities That Can Affect Payment of Railroad Retirement Annuities,” May 2026, read at rrb.gov on 2026-09-04. Statute: 45 U.S.C. §231a(e), (f)(1), (f)(6), (g), read at law.cornell.edu on 2026-09-04.
General information about a federal program, not tax or legal advice, and not a recommendation to buy or sell any product. Figures and rules above are current as of the date in the quick answer; confirm anything decision-critical directly with the agency before acting on it.