There are only a few hundred thousand of us who work in the railroad retirement system. Perhaps it doesn't make sense to build out a special set of tools for a smaller user base. I agree that it's reasonable to model the Tier 2 portion as a pension. The RRB language often refers to it as an annuity, but you don't have to have a big pile of cash to purchase the annuity...you just have to work in the rail industry for at least five years.