Lifetime income options

Note to call center representative: Check the plan’s rules to determine if annuity income is an available option under the plan.

If yes:

Your plan allows you to elect to receive lifetime income payments from all or part of your balance in the TIAA Secure Income Account.

If no

Your plan does not allow you to elect to receive lifetime income payments from your balance in the TIAA Secure Income Account.

This is one of the income options available to you under your plan so you are not required to elect lifetime income payments. You may also make full or partial withdrawals at whatever pace suits your financial circumstances. However, full or partial withdrawals do not guarantee that you’ll have a steady, predictable stream of income that will last throughout your life.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us on the call today.

Note to call center representative: Please dial 844-7-INCOME (746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

TIAA tracks interest rates and transactions across TIAA Secure Income Account rate buckets (vintages) to provide us with updated balances every day.

In addition, TIAA calculates lifetime income projections, makes Lifetime Income Consultants available, and of course, if the participant chooses to convert to lifetime income, TIAA will make the income payments and handle any servicing associated with the lifetime income (e.g., address changes and tax reporting).

TIAA Secure Income Account guaranteed lifetime income payments offer the benefit of predicable and protected monthly income that you cannot outlive.

As you review your recurring essential living expenses in retirement (e.g., housing, utilities, food, clothing, insurance premiums), you may find that income from other sources such as Social Security or pension plans doesn’t fully cover your recurring expenses. In this case, you may decide that choosing a stream of lifetime income to help cover this gap is worth exploring.

If you decide to use some or all of your balance in the TIAA Secure Income Account for lifetime income payments, you can be assured that you will have a guaranteed amount of income paid to you no matter how long you live. You can also select a two-life annuity so that payments continue to a loved one if you pass away before they do. You can also elect a guarantee period so that your beneficiary will continue to receive payments until the end of that guarantee period if you pass away before the end of the guarantee period.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative: Please dial 844-7-INCOME (746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

You can typically choose to elect to receive monthly, quarterly, semiannual or annual payments.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

Lifetime income payments from the TIAA Secure Income Account have two parts: the guaranteed minimum amount and any additional amounts that TIAA may choose to pay, which are not guaranteed.

Factors affecting the amount of initial lifetime income include your age when you wish to begin payments, the income option you choose, and the interest rate environment when you choose lifetime income.

Each year after payments begin, TIAA reviews its experience and determine if next year’s additional amounts will be increasing, staying the same, or decreasing. Of course, the payment amounts will always be greater than or equal to the guaranteed minimum amount determined according to the contract.

Changes in income, if any, are typically effective on January 1.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

Unlike lump-sum or periodic withdrawals, lifetime annuities provide income that never runs out. And, depending on the type of annuity you choose, you can have income continue to loved ones. You can choose what’s good for you and your family.

• One-life annuity: Provides income for as long as you live.
• Two-life annuity: Provides lifetime income to you and, when you pass, to your annuity partner if they survive you.

From there, you also have the flexibility to choose the amounts included in the payments. For instance, you can choose to have your annuity partner continue to receive the full amount after you pass. Or you may choose to have your annuity partner receive half of the amount, for example. You can even choose a minimum number of years that you or your beneficiary will be paid in the event you pass before the end of the guarantee period. Different choices allow you to manage your retirement income in a way that’s best for you and your family depending on your situation.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

If you’re married and your plan is subject to ERISA, your spouse must receive at least 50% of your retirement income if you pass away before they do. They can waive these rights by signing a special form in the presence of a notary.

In fact, if you’re married, you can elect a number of options to continue payment to your spouse if you pass away before them. These include 100%, 75% or 50% to your spouse. You can also elect to pay two-thirds of the original payment to whoever survives.

If you’re not married, you can choose to receive income for your life only. You can also add a loved one (e.g., domestic partner, child, or sibling) as a second annuitant. Depending on your age and the age of your non-spouse second annuitant, some of the types of payment to a second annuitant may be limited.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

Yes. You can add a guarantee period that guarantees that payments will be made to one or more beneficiaries you select until the end of the period if you pass away before then. Of course, if you live beyond the guarantee period, TIAA continues to pay you. Commonly available guarantee periods include 10, 15, and 20 years. Choosing a guarantee period helps ease concerns that you may pass away shortly after beginning to receive lifetime income.

Similar to adding a loved one as a second annuitant, adding a guaranteed period will affect the amount of your income payments.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

If you choose to convert some or all of your balance in the TIAA Secure Income Account to guaranteed lifetime income payments, the cost to provide those payments, called the “purchase price,” will be withdrawn from your TIAA Secure Income Account. The process of beginning lifetime income payments is called “annuitizing.” 

You select the form of annuity, the lives that are covered, any guarantee periods, the starting date and the frequency of payment.

For example, if you choose monthly payments, you’ll receive a check every month for life. If you elect to provide your spouse, partner or other loved one with a benefit upon your death, they’ll receive the benefit payment for the rest of their life if they survive you. Of course, each option that you choose can affect the amount of income you receive.

Once payments begin, you’ll receive a check or direct deposit from TIAA according to the frequency you choose. This protected income is like having a “paycheck in retirement”.

Knowing that you’ll be receiving this steady protected income can be helpful in your budgeting process in retirement. If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

No. Once the balance is converted to lifetime income, TIAA places it into its reserves to make lifetime income payments. You are entitled to a guaranteed stream of income but you do not have an account balance.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

No. Once you convert to lifetime income, you cannot revoke that decision or change any second annuitant that you’ve already elected.

However, if you’ve chosen a guarantee period, you may change the beneficiary who would receive the remaining payments if you pass away before the end of the guaranteed period.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

If you don’t choose an annuity partner or a guarantee period, payments end at your death and TIAA retains any remaining amount in its reserves to support lifetime income payments for those who survive. If you choose an annuity partner, payments will continue to them if you pass away before they do.

If you choose a guarantee period and die before it ends, your beneficiaries will receive payments until the end of the guaranteed period according to the provisions of the contract/certificate. Some participants choose a guarantee period of up to 20 years to ease concerns about passing away shortly after beginning lifetime income payments.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

TIAA will send all payments after you convert to lifetime income. TIAA will also handle address changes, bank changes, tax paperwork, and customer support related to the lifetime income payments.

However, if you still have an account balance with us and you change your address, you will also need to notify us separately of that change.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

Yes. Typically, long-term contributors to TIAA fixed annuities that are structured similarly to the TIAA Secure Income Account have received more lifetime income per dollar converted to lifetime income than newer contributors. This is an exclusive benefit of certain TIAA fixed annuity products like the TIAA Secure Income Account, and it’s made possible by TIAA’s not-for-profit heritage and its distinctive approach to seeking to share a portion of its profits with customers who convert to lifetime income. TIAA may share profits with TIAA Traditional owners through declared additional amounts of interest and through increases in annuity income throughout retirement. These additional amounts are not guaranteed.

Typically, amounts that have been on deposit longer in the TIAA Secure Income Account will benefit more from potential profit sharing than amounts that were contributed more recently. Think of it as a sort of loyalty bonus.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

Yes, if your plan allows for lifetime income as a distribution option. The only way for your savings to get access to the TIAA Secure Income Account is to subscribe to your plan’s asset allocation program. If you subscribe, then your balance will be allocated among investments included in the program, including, if applicable, the TIAA Secure Income Account. Be sure that you understand how your balance will be apportioned among plan investments before choosing to subscribe.

Then, once you have a balance in the TIAA Secure Income Account, you can convert some or all of the balance to lifetime income.

Keep in mind that although you may be able to subscribe to your plan’s asset allocation program late in your career, the amount of your lifetime income you can receive typically won’t be as much as if you had accumulated the same amount in the TIAA Secure Income Account over many years.

Typically, the longer you contribute to the TIAA Secure Income Account, the higher your lifetime income payment will be for each dollar converted to lifetime income.  Think of it as a sort of loyalty bonus.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

No, assuming your employer’s plan rules don’t state otherwise. In this case, you are free to convert only a portion of your account balance in the TIAA Secure Income Account to lifetime income.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

Yes, “laddering” of lifetime income is allowed, depending on your employer’s plan rules. An approach that some employ is to convert a portion of the balance to lifetime income, then wait a few years to get a better handle on their budget and health condition before deciding whether to convert additional amounts to streams of lifetime income.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us on this phone call, and they can walk you through the process to develop a customized lifetime income illustration for you.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

Our first step is to ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join our call to prepare a lifetime income illustration, showing you the estimated amount of income you can receive under several different options.

We can also request that a lifetime income initiation form be sent to you at the time the illustration is provided.

You can review the illustration, and if you decide to proceed, you can complete the form and return it based on the instructions provided in the form. Keep in mind that a member of your employer’s benefits office may need to sign the form before it’s submitted. In some cases, we, as the recordkeeper, can sign off.

If you’d like to discuss TIAA’s lifetime income options in more detail, I can ask a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant to join us.

Note to call center representative:Please dial 844-7-INCOME(746-2663) to bring a TIAA Lifetime Income Consultant into your phone call.

Typically, you cannot annuitize more from the TIAA Secure Income Account than the amount dictated by the asset allocation program in which you are invested.