https://ifs2.tiaa-cref.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/ARS

Click on the web site address and enter Iowa in “select a state” and click Submit. Scroll down to Iowa State University and you will find the dates for one-n-one appointments and for seminars being offered on campus. Click on the date and you will be given a list of available meeting times. You can register there. You can also call the Ames, Iowa TIAA-CREF Office toll free at 866 904 7803 or use their local number 515 268 8600 and schedule a meeting.

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How can I speak to a TIAA-CREF representative?
Telephone Counseling Center 1 800 842-2776

Available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The busiest times are from noon to 2:00 p.m. ET, and the busiest day is Monday.

You can reduce your wait time by calling during the non-peak hours of 8:30 am - 10:30 am ET and 4 pm - 6 pm ET, Monday through Friday; or 9 am - 10:30 am ET and 4 pm - 6 pm ET on Saturday

Hearing-impaired participants who use a telecommunications device for the deaf should call 1 800 842-2755.

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Can I transfer accumulations from one or more CREF accounts to another CREF account? If so, how do I go about it?

You can transfer funds between CREF accounts and from CREF to TIAA Traditional account on a daily basis. With SRAs and GSRAs, you can also transfer funds from TIAA Traditional to CREF accounts and TIAA Real Estate immediately, but for RA and GRA accounts transfers from TIAA Traditional to CREF accounts or TIAA Real Estate must be spread over a ten-year period, in annual installments, generally, that each equal roughly 10 percent of the original amount. (See next question below.)

Transfers are effective at the next close of business of U.S. stock markets, ordinarily 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. In other words, if you make a telephone transfer at noon, it's effective following the close of business that day. If you call at 4:01 p.m. Eastern Standard Time or afterward, it will be effective following the close of business on the next day.

You can transfer by writing to TIAA-CREF at 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. You can also use their automated telephone system (1 800 842-2252). You'll need your personal access code (PAC) and Social Security number. You can also open up your personal account on the TIAA- CREF web site at http://www.tiaa-cref.org/. You will need to create your own Personal ID and password. To open the account you will need to input your social security number, birth date and one of your TIAA-CREF account numbers. Your account numbers can be found on your quarterly statement or by calling the Telephone Counseling Center (see below). If you'd like more information or assistance before executing your transfer, call their Telephone Counseling Center at 1 800 842-2776, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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How do I transfer my Retirement Annuity (RA) funds from TIAA Traditional account to one of the CREF accounts or to the TIAA Real Estate Account? What is the Transfer Payout Annuity?

An annuity contract that moves funds from TIAA Traditional account accumulations in substantially equal annual installments over a 10-year period is called a TIAA Transfer Payout Annuity to CREF. TIAA Retirement Annuity and Group Retirement Annuity accumulations can be transferred to any of the CREF accounts or TIAA Real Estate account. You must transfer at least $10,000 (or all your accumulation if less than $10,000). You can transfer as much as 100% to CREF accounts or TIAA Real Estate. The transfer takes place once a year. Any money in the Transfer Payout Annuity (TPA) continues to earn interest as if it were in the TIAA Traditional account.

This is the one case where you can’t complete the process by phone. You must call 1-800-842-2776 and ask to have a TIAA Transfer Payout Annuity application form mailed to you or go to the TIAA-CREF web site at http://www.tiaa-cref.org/forms/index.html and click Transfer Forms and scroll down to Transfer Payout Annuity into CREF Variable Accounts and download the application. When filling out the form, you will designate how much you wish to transfer and, by percentage, how do you wish to allocate the transfer to one or more of the CREF accounts or TIAA Real Estate. You will indicate who your primary beneficiary is and who your contingent beneficiaries are. When complete, mail the form back to them.

Once a quarter you will receive a new quarterly report for your contract. The money you are transferring will no longer appear in the section RA account forms. It will appear in a new Transfer Payout Annuity account. You will notice in three of the four quarterly reports “no transactions this quarter”. This is because the money only transfers once a year on the anniversary of the date you submitted your contract to TIAA-CREF. Currently the quarterly report does not show the prior previous quarter’s sum, only the current quarterly sum. You will have to hold on to all quarterly reports to see how your remaining funds in the TIAA Transfer Payout Annuity contract are growing.

The only way you can stop this process is to retire and annualize your remaining balance in the TIAA Transfer Payout Annuity contract or move it to an Interest Only contract. You are not, however, precluded from transferring the funds right back to TIAA Traditional account in future years. So, for example, interest rates have risen to a level where you wish you had more in TIAA Traditional account. You can pick up the phone - or go to their World Wide Web site and transfer as much as you choose to from your CREF or TIAA Real Estate funds back to the TIAA Traditional Account.
If you have a SRA or GSRA - you may transfer all of your TIAA funds by telephone or using your personal TIAA-CREF web site account with no additional paperwork. This is an instant process.

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What happens to my TIAA-CREF pension benefits if I leave my job before it's time to retire?

You retain the rights to whatever benefits have been set aside on your behalf by Iowa State University and yourself. If you move from your current job to any of more than 5,500 other institutions with a TIAA-CREF retirement plan, you can continue to contribute -- in many instances with no interruption in participation. But even if your new employer doesn't offer TIAA-CREF, your accumulation will go on receiving the same TIAA Traditional interest and dividends and/or participating in the same CREF accounts and TIAA Real Estate investment experience as participants who are still contributing premiums.

You also have the option to make your own personal contributions to the plan. Personal contributions can be made to Retirement Annuity contracts only and must be paid in after-tax dollars. Any contributions made on an after-tax basis are considered your investment in the contract and will be returned to you tax free over the life of the annuity.

For more information on how to make after tax personal contributions to your Retirement Annuity contract, call their Telephone Counseling Center at 1 800 842-2776, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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What would happen to my TIAA-CREF benefits if I were to die before starting retirement income?

If you die before your annuity income begins, a death benefit is guaranteed. Your beneficiary(ies) can take the death benefit as a life annuity with or without a guaranteed period; a fixed-period annuity; a single payment; or via minimum distribution payments. If your beneficiary is a minor, a court will have to appoint a guardian until the minor turns 18 or 21, depending on what state you live in.

Your beneficiary can also leave the funds with TIAA-CREF for as long as he or she likes, during which period we'll get the same TIAA interest and/or CREF investment returns credited to accumulating annuities.
Finally, if your beneficiary is your spouse, he or she can roll funds paid as a death benefit over to a TIAA-CREF Rollover IRA or other Individual Retirement Account, delaying any withdrawals until their own retirement and continuing the tax deferred growth of the investments.

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