TIAA-Traditional Annuity

[nun]

Does anyone own a TIAA-Traditional deferred annuity? If you do what income option are you going to choose when you retire and why? Do you think the lifetime annuity is a good deal when compared to other annuities?

 

[ERhoosier]

I haven't comparison shopped annuities, but TIAA seems to have an good reputation for low fees & reasonable returns (for 'traditional' annuities).

Also- IIRC the products they offer to public my not be same as those offered to teaching employees/retirees.

 

[nun]

Also- IIRC the products they offer to public my not be same as those offered to teaching employees/retirees.

I think you're right there. My TIAA deferred annuity has averaged 4.5% annual return over the years and has a current interest rate of 3.75% so it's been an ok fixed income foundation. I just got a quote for a single life annuity starting at age 55 and the payout rate is 7%. That looks pretty good, but I was wondering if anyone has taken the interest only, systematic withdrawals or transfer payout options and if so why.

 

[Coach]

I chose the transfer payout annuity option, which is rolling out the balance over 10 years into a TIAA Real Estate account in my IRA. I did this because of the limited liquidity of the TIAA Traditional account in my retirement annuity. I have very much enjoyed the guaranteed returns in the TIAA Traditional account over the last 30 years or so and will continue to do so for the seven years remaining on what's left in the account each year. I can't speak to the lifetime annuity option -- in my case I didn't think that option was for me.

Coach

 

[ls99]

Same as Coach, on myTIAA.

 

[LauAnn]

When I retired in April @55 I took the lifetime annuity option (standard not graded payout) on the amount I was required to annuitize. It is now my main source of income to cover my neccessities. I will eventually set up automatic monthly disbursements on the portion I was not required to annuitize to cover non-essential expenditures. I am on track to deplete this latter pool of money when i turn 62 at which point it will be offset by Social Security at a slightly higher monthly rate.

From what I can gleen (guess) by reading threads on this forum, I appear to have significantly less financial resources than many who ER. But I live modestly and the TIAA lifetime annuity gives me peace of mind and in reality was the only way I could realistically ER.

 

[LOL!]

I own it and started a transfer payout annuity which is really 9 years and 1 day and not 10 years because it is 10 payments.. And like Coach, the money goes to buy TIAA Real Estate Account shares which is easily my worst performing investment. TREA has not recovered from its highs in 2008 yet.

I took this option because I wanted out of TIAA and thus wanted to get started so that when I retired, I didn't have to wait to get any money out of TIAA.

One can always buy a single-premium immediate annuity to replicate TIAA TA if they wish.

 

[nun]

I own it and started a transfer payout annuity which is really 9 years and 1 day and not 10 years because it is 10 payments.. And like Coach, the money goes to buy TIAA Real Estate Account shares which is easily my worst performing investment. TREA has not recovered from its highs in 2008 yet.

I took this option because I wanted out of TIAA and thus wanted to get started so that when I retired, I didn't have to wait to get any money out of TIAA.

One can always buy a single-premium immediate annuity to replicate TIAA TA if they wish.

I haven't seen any SPIAs that come close to the value of a TIAA-Traditional lifetime annuity; a 7% payout starting at age 55 is good in todays environment.
I was wondering if people were using the interest only option or the systematic withdrawals for the fixed income part of their portfolio as you are guaranteed at least 3% and you'll get more than that with the additional interest that is declared. Right now I get 3.75% which is better than my other fixed income investments.

My plan is to either do the annuity or just do the systematic withdrawals and use TIAA Traditional as part of my fixed income

 

[HarryL]

My TIAA traditional is only 10% of my TIAA-CREF portfolio and all the contributions were "vintage" interest rates. I elected to take the interest only option with my TIAA portion when I retired 7 years ago. It's worked out fine for me. I still have full control of my assets and all my options are still open if my financial situation changes. Have no plans to change.

The only downside is that inflation will eventually eat away at the TIAA holdings. But since inflation has been so low, that hasn't' really come into play.

 

[nun]

My TIAA traditional is only 10% of my TIAA-CREF portfolio and all the contributions were "vintage" interest rates. I elected to take the interest only option with my TIAA portion when I retired 7 years ago. It's worked out fine for me. I still have full control of my assets and all my options are still open if my financial situation changes. Have no plans to change.

The only downside is that inflation will eventually eat away at the TIAA holdings. But since inflation has been so low, that hasn't' really come into play.

If you want to keep some control over principal the interest only or systematic withdrawal options are great. Most of my contributions were made in the late 1980s and early 1990s so I'm getting really good rates on those. I look at bond funds right now and think that 4% or better from TIAA is a better fixed income option. You give up immediate access to principal, but you can get at it with a little planning.