Single life annuity—or “One-Life Annuity,” as it is called in TIAA-CREF’s documentation—guarantees that you will have income for the rest of your life. Given the size of the monthly payment, it benefits those who have not had an opportunity to accumulate large retirement accounts and run the risk of outliving their assets. The one-life alternative seems obviously appropriate for single people who either do not wish or are not in a position to pass retirement assets on to heirs or charity. They also do not have another person for whom they want to provide an income after their death. (more…)

“Portable,” as defined in Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary, means “capable of being transported or conveyed.” A portable retirement account would allow you to move it from one employer to another without any discernible detriment to you. As a rule, employers in either the not-for-profit or the for-profit sector rarely permit employees to bring retirement plans from previous employers to their new positions. On occasion, Congress has debated enacting legislation that would allow for the creation of individual pension accounts that could be moved from one employer to another. (more…)

Corporate sponsors are taking a harder look at their employee benefit plans. Clearly the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) contributes to this increased attention by formally requiring that pension plans be run solely in the interests of plan participants and by making plan fiduciaries personally liable for any breach of fiduciary duties. The growth in pension plan asset and retirement assets also draws the attention of senior management; when a plan’s size exceeds the assets of the largest corporate division or perhaps the total market value of the outstanding corporate stock, (more…)

The Group Retirement Account (or “GRA”) and the Group Supplemental Retirement Account (or “GSRA”) resemble the Retirement Annuity account and the Supplemental Retirement Annuity account in many respects. There are, however, some fundamental differences between the group accounts and their nongroup counterparts.

Both the RA and the Group Retirement Account are contracts with TIAA-CREF. (more…)

Losing a job—at any age—is traumatic, even when a worker receives some severance pay. In addition to loss of income and/or employee benefits, there is a feeling of insecurity as one’s way of life is disrupted. Workers faced with involuntary retirement in later life must take stock of their financial resources, marketable job skills, and emotional readiness—or not—for retirement.

The federal COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) law provides an opportunity for continuation of health insurance for up to 18 months, at group rates plus a 2% administrative fee, until an individual policy (or new group coverage) is obtained or a worker is eligible for Medicare. (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…)

Perhaps the most common way that people create retirement income is through the use of systematic withdrawals from their retirement investment programs. You simply choose how much you want to withdraw, and the mutual fund company, bank, or insurance company complies with your request. Most systematic withdrawals are programmed. This means that the request is automated to make your withdrawals easy and consistent. (more…)

Imagine if you’re retired now, how many times you gave a second thought for the date of your Required Minimum Distributions (RMDS or minimum distribution) from your retirement accounts? Each retirement account holder retired U.S. who are over the age of 70.5 years (except for Roth IRA owners) should take annual RMD. On the other hand, tax law does not explicitly mention the exact date of the distributions. Yes it is clear that it must be from 31 taking December of each calendar every year. (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…)