Give unengaged employees a path toward retirement readiness
Time to read: 3 minutes
Hands-off shouldn't mean at risk. TIAA SmartEnrollSM spots employees who could be off-track for retirement1, then lets sponsors move them into a QDIA-eligible target date solution that can include an option for lifetime income.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the law that codified automatic enrollment as an option for workplace retirement plans and introduced the qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) relief for ERISA plan fiduciaries. Together, these provisions opened the door for defined contribution plan sponsors to default employees who don’t make an investment choice into prudently managed, well-diversified investment portfolios.
Nevertheless, it’s still common for some employees to get blown off the path toward a secure financial future. When a plan sponsor sets up their QDIA, not all plan participants become invested in the default. That’s why we offer TIAA SmartEnroll, which provides plan sponsors a new way to broaden access to TIAA RetirePlus®, our QDIA-eligible, models-based investment solution.
When self-directed investors go dormant
Most participants—around eight in 10—let their contributions flow to their workplace retirement plan’s default investment.2 They’re not actively making decisions, but their asset allocations tend to be age-based. A built-in investment glidepath keeps them on track.
But what happens to the dabblers and do-it-yourselfers? Some employees are keen to customize their own asset allocation and do so for years. Others manage their retirement accounts only sporadically then stop. Under TIAA SmartEnroll, an employee is determined to be “unengaged”—and potentially at risk—if they aren’t in their plan’s default and haven’t actively traded among the plan’s investments or implemented an in-plan TIAA advice option for at least two years (it doesn’t consider other retirement plans, investments, or advisors the participant might use.)
TIAA SmartEnroll aims to address unengaged employees approaching retirement who may unintentionally carry significant market risk, leaving their accounts vulnerable to market turmoil just when they need the money most. Conversely, a younger unengaged employee’s allocation may be overly conservative. Perhaps they moved into a “safe haven” amid a worrying news event and never moved back.
TIAA RetirePlus can help better diversify asset allocations
TIAA plan analysis shows 64% of unengaged employees have allocations far from what is recommended by third party advisor Morningstar Investment Management.3,4 About 15% percent of the unengaged have either 100% or zero exposure to equities.2,5 This may be intentional—for example, if an employee also has out-of-plan assets and the plan holdings are part of a broader asset allocation. However, in many cases employees in this situation are on a path that may leave them inadequately prepared for retirement.
TIAA SmartEnroll: Reversing the inertia trap
- TIAA SmartEnroll is available for all plan sponsors: new, existing, and those already using
TIAA RetirePlus . - It analyzes how employees interact with their plans to identify those who are unengaged and may be drifting off track for retirement.
- We work with the sponsor to move unengaged employees into TIAA RetirePlus for both existing plan assets and future contributions—participants can opt out if they wish.
- TIAA SmartEnroll doesn't cost anything. We provide this service as part of our relationship with plan sponsors.
- Sponsors can implement TIAA SmartEnroll at any time.
How TIAA RetirePlus can help keep participants on track
Like a standard target date fund,
Additionally, TIAA RetirePlus considers all retirement assets in the plan —not just the model portfolio balances—including any annuities participants may have selected under the plan over the years. This helps keep the participant’s overall model asset mix on track.
And crucially, TIAA RetirePlus allows sponsors to incorporate TIAA fixed (or variable) annuities directly into the asset allocation. Fixed annuities act as structural dampeners against interest rate risk and structural dampeners against interest rate risk and
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1 TIAA SmartEnroll helps plan sponsors identify employees who, based on the products and services offered by TIAA, may be off-track for retirement.
2 TIAA Enterprise Analytics (2025).
3 Data as of 09/30/2025. TIAA RetirePlus clients include 648 institutions and 680,000 participants. Data includes all participants except those who are exclusively invested in nonmappable products in legacy contracts (RA/GRA/SRA/GSRA).
4 The participants’ equity allocation for plan assets is off by two or more glidepath levels as recommended by third party advisor Morningstar Investment Management LLC (e.g., a 43-year-old should be in the 40-45 glidepath, however their equity allocation puts them in a glidepath more appropriate for a younger age group). The participant could also be too conservative and have an equity allocation for an older age group.
5 The participants have either 0% equity allocation or 100% equity allocation, meaning that younger participants may have no equity exposure, while older participants have 100% equity allocation.
6 Data as of Dec. 31, 2025. TIAA RetirePlus clients include 595 institutions and 1,468,580 participants. Data includes all participants except those who are exclusively invested in nonmappable products in legacy contracts (RA/GRA/SRA/GSRA).
You should consider the investment objectives, principal strategies, principal risks, portfolio turnover rate, performance data, and fee and expense information of each underlying investment carefully before directing an investment based on the model. For a free copy of the program description and the prospectus or other offering documents for each of the underlying investments (containing this and other information), call TIAA at 877-518-9161. Please read the program description and the prospectuses or other offering documents for the underlying investments carefully before investing.
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This material is for informational, educational or non-fiduciary sales opportunities and/or activities only and does not constitute investment advice (e.g., fiduciary advice under ERISA or otherwise), a securities recommendation under all securities laws, or an insurance product recommendation under state insurance laws or regulations to invest through a model or to purchase any security or advice about investing or managing retirement savings. It does not take into account any specific objectives or circumstances of any particular customer, or suggest any specific course of action.
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Converting some or all of your savings to income benefits is an irrevocable decision once benefit payments begin.
TIAA RetirePlus Select® and TIAA RetirePlus Pro® are administered by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”) as plan recordkeeper. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, Member FINRA and SIPC distributes securities products. SIPC only protects customers' securities and cash held in brokerage accounts. TIAA and CREF annuity contracts and certificates are issued by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) and College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF), New York, NY, respectively. Each is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations. Transactions in the underlying investments invested in based on the models on behalf of the plan participants are executed through TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC.
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