Teachers, Insurance, and Annuity Association (TIAA)

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What is TIAA?

TIAA (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association) is a financial services organization originally created to provide retirement and insurance solutions for people working in the nonprofit sector—especially educators. Founded in 1918 with support from the Carnegie Foundation, TIAA’s mission is helping people who serve others secure reliable retirement income.

History and evolution

  • Founded in 1918 to serve professors and other education workers; created to provide guaranteed lifetime income and pension-like benefits.
  • In 1952 TIAA added the College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF), a variable annuity that introduced equity exposure to retirement portfolios and broadened TIAA’s investment offerings.
  • Over time TIAA expanded into wealth-management, real estate, 529 college savings, IRAs, brokerage services and other retirement products.
  • TIAA maintained a nonprofit charter but had its tax-exempt status revoked in 1997 and today operates as a nonprofit organization with taxable subsidiaries, returning profits to policyholders.

Scale and organization

  • Serves millions of active and retired participants across thousands of institutions.
  • Manages over a trillion dollars in assets through its investment platform. Its asset-management arm, Nuveen, is a major manager of real assets.
  • Headquartered in New York with a national office footprint.

Key acquisitions and milestones

  • 2014: Announced acquisition of Nuveen Investments to expand asset-management capabilities.
  • 2015: Acquired full ownership of TIAA Henderson Real Estate.
  • 2016–2017: Acquired EverBank Financial Corp. and integrated banking services.
  • Historically an early adopter of strategies such as international equity exposure, socially responsible funds, direct real estate investing, rollovers, and 529 plans.

Leadership

  • Thasunda Brown Duckett became president and CEO in 2021, leading TIAA’s strategy and operations.

Major products

TIAA offers employer-sponsored plans and retail retirement products designed to provide lifetime income options as well as investment flexibility.

TIAA Traditional (employer plans)

  • Employer-sponsored defined-contribution plans that emphasize lifetime income.
  • Rather than focusing solely on accumulation, these plans can annuitize funds to produce guaranteed income streams, resembling defined-benefit pensions in retirement behavior.

CREF and variable account options

CREF variable accounts give participants exposure to market returns inside an annuity wrapper. Typical account types include:
– Stock Account
– Growth Account
– Global Equities Account
– Equity Index Account
– Social Choice Account (ESG-focused)
– Bond Market Account
– Inflation-Linked Bond Account
– Money Market Account

Personal annuities

  • Fixed annuities: steady, predictable growth; tax-deferred accumulation; available in varying time periods.
  • Variable annuities: market-linked growth potential with tax-deferred accumulation and broad investment choices (TIAA offers 60+ investment options). Payouts can be taken as lifetime income or lump sum. The product structure allows continued retirement contributions beyond employer limits.

IRAs and rollovers

  • Traditional and Roth IRAs, plus SEP and SIMPLE IRAs for small businesses.
  • Rollovers accepted from 401(k), 403(b), and other IRAs; transfers in or out are supported.

Target-date (lifecycle) funds

  • Professionally managed mutual-fund suites that automatically shift toward lower-risk investments as a chosen retirement date approaches.

Who is eligible?

TIAA’s plans are commonly offered to employees of nonprofit institutions—academic, research, medical, cultural and government organizations—though many personal products are available to individual investors.

How a TIAA plan differs from a 401(k)

  • Both are defined-contribution vehicles, but TIAA places greater emphasis on generating guaranteed lifetime income through annuitization.
  • 401(k) plans generally focus on accumulation and portability; TIAA plans are structured to convert savings into future income streams.

Key takeaways

  • TIAA began in 1918 to serve educators and now provides a broad range of retirement, investment and insurance products across the nonprofit sector and beyond.
  • It combines annuity-based guaranteed income options with variable investment accounts and traditional retirement products (IRAs, target-date funds).
  • TIAA’s structure emphasizes lifetime income, making it distinct from many accumulation-focused retirement plans.

Bottom line

TIAA remains a leading provider of retirement solutions for nonprofit-sector workers, offering a blend of guaranteed-income annuity options and investment flexibility intended to help participants secure dependable income in retirement.