Steps to enroll in the State ORP with TIAA

To enroll in the State Optional Retirement Program (State ORP) and elect TIAA as your service provider, you must contact your employer who will initiate the retirement enrollment process with the South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA). You will make your plan election when you respond to the Retirement Plan Election email you receive from PEBA. If you work for a state agency, PEBA will receive your retirement plan election once your employer enters it in SCEIS. When you enroll in State ORP, PEBA shares your basic demographic information with TIAA, and TIAA will establish an account on its system in your name.

TIAA will send you a Welcome Packet once it establishes your account on its system. It is important that you log in to your account at TIAA.org after receiving your Welcome Packet. Once logged in, you can view your account details, manage your investments, add beneficiaries for your State ORP account at TIAA, get advice, and take advantage of many educational tools and services available through TIAA. Keep in mind that your beneficiary designation for your State ORP account at TIAA is different from your beneficiary designation for the State ORP active member incidental death benefit administered through PEBA. Contact PEBA if you have questions about how to designate beneficiaries for the State ORP active member incidental death benefit.

For existing TIAA participants, visit TIAA.org and enter your user ID and password.

For new TIAA participants, visit TIAA.org and select Need online access? to establish your user ID and password.

Once logged in to your account, select Accounts to perform these important steps:

• Select Change retirement investments to establish or make changes to the investment options for your State ORP account.
• Select Profile then select Manage beneficiaries to designate a beneficiary for your State ORP account at TIAA. You will need to name a beneficiary for each TIAA contract number associated with your State ORP account at TIAA. Contract numbers are assigned for each participating employer for which you are employed during your State ORP participation.
• Select Profile then select Communication preferences to opt-in to electronic delivery of communications, if desired. Be sure to select Save preferences.