As you consider the various options described in TIAA-CREF annuity, you need to remember that your situation is unique. From experience, we know that you will probably bounce ideas off people whom you know well, who know you, and certainly whom you trust. Beware, however, advice from a well-meaning friend who may have just made a decision and whose situation may be slightly or even significantly different from yours, but who feels confident that her choice is by far the best. (more…)

Once the investment objectives are set, the next decision involves distribution of the plan’s assets. This process is twofold: selecting the types of assets to be used and then determining the amount to be invested in each type.

In the United States, the preponderance of pension plans is invested in familiar financial assets such as bonds, stocks, and cash equivalents. However, investment is growing in other types of financial instruments, such as guaranteed investment contracts, private placements, venture capital investments and options. (more…)

Cash flow planning is the process by which the flow of income necessary to sustain a given standard of living in retirement is identified and financed. It is perhaps the most critical part of retirement planning. Cash flow planning for retirees depends crucially on two factors: (1) the resource constraints a retiree faces in terms of assets and other retirement income sources and (2) the desires and needs a retiree has for spending in retirement. Both of these, in turn, depend to a great degree on when the planning is done. (more…)

We have alluded to the Transfer Payout Annuity from time to time, and now it gets the attention it clearly deserves. The Transfer Payout Annuity is literally an annuity, and it represents the mechanism by which funds are transferred from a TIAA accumulation to either one of the other investment choices in the TIAA-CREF family or as a taxable distribution after age 59 1/2 to the participant. (more…)

If we boil things down to a simple two-part equation, retirement planning is all about managing inflows (income) during your earning years and outflows (expenses) during your retirement years. Of course, retirement means different things to different people at different points in their lives. Rather than a static state, retirement is a dynamic state, changing with life events, financial events, and even your own education as you learn more about concepts and products. The more information you absorb, the more comfortable you feel in being an active participant in the retirement planning process. Your plan for accumulating assets for retirement has to take all of this into account and be flexible enough to adapt to all kinds of changes. (more…)

This question arises with the greatest frequency, and it ranks, as one would expect, as one of the most difficult to answer. We can only suggest general guidelines because your investment risk tolerance may differ from the next person’s. Also, investment choices should reflect one’s overall economic situation, and advertisements for online brokerage houses notwithstanding, not every form or method of investment suits every situation. In an age when most of us are at least aware of general movements in the market, if not actually participating in some way, most of us wish for a formula to provide the optimal investment mix for our particular situation. (more…)

Like the peculiar behavior of the dog in the night in the Sherlock Holmes story “Silver Blaze,” one of the obvious but overlooked clues about the insurance orientation of TIAA-CREF appears in the names of the accounts that are given to the various accumulation alternatives available to you. Each account is labeled an “annuity,” and each contribution is called a “premium.” To avoid confusion you should note that what TIAA-CREF labels as an “account,” you probably would call an investment choice or fund.

Stripped to the basics, your Retirement Annuity (or “Retirement Annuity”) boils down to an accumulation agreement between you and TIAA-CREF. (more…)

Because Early Retirement Incentive Plans are not as widespread as they had been a decade or two ago, there are fewer reports detailing their dimensions. Price Waterhouse Coopers (2001) surveyed 114 firms in 2001 and reported that 12.3% had made such an offer to employees. Watson Wyatt surveyed 75 large companies in 1998–1999, finding that 61% had offered at least one ERIP in the previous ten years. In 2002, however, Watson Wyatt’s survey found that only 17% of U.S. firms had offered such plans in the prior three years. (more…)

During your working career, your TIAA-CREF accounts will probably appear totally portable, subject to the incongruities between a Group Retirement Account and an Retirement Annuity accumulation. You may find that your investment choices at your new employer are more limited than they were formerly. Of course, when you are working at institution A, its rules will control the amounts of contributions and the vehicles available to you within and without TIAA-CREF. TIAA-CREF will keep track of all of your Retirement Annuity accumulations in both TIAA and CREF as you move from one institution to the next. (more…)

Many investors incline to take more risks in their investment for the hope of higher returns. Even though in some point this decision put risk into their retirement investments and their retirement planning as general. Moreover, risk aversion by investors seeking safe investment only, making the prospect of increased efficiency gains. Common investor also needs knowledge of the various types of investments he or she can choose from. (more…)