TIAA TRADITIONAL*
Give employees the promise of more retirement security.
TIAA Traditional, our flagship fixed annuity, provides guaranteed growth while saving and monthly retirement checks that last for life.1 Help your employees protect their future by including TIAA Traditional on your plan menu.
*Issued by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), New York, NY.
Product overview
TIAA Traditional helps make your employee retirement plan a true benefit.
Guaranteed growth
TIAA Traditional provides guaranteed growth while saving, no matter what’s happening in the market.1
Bigger retirement checks
During retirement, TIAA Traditional provides guaranteed monthly checks for life. And for decades we’ve increased payments with the exclusive TIAA Loyalty BonusSM for longtime contributors.2-4
Unwavering financial strength
TIAA Traditional is powered by our General Account. With over $290B in total assets, it’s one of the largest general accounts of any U.S. life insurer, creating a significant advantage during periods of long-term economic stress.5,6
How we’re different
We’ve been sharing profits for decades. $3B a year for the past 10 years, in fact.7
TIAA has no public shareholders and we give profits back to our participants through higher interest rates, bigger payouts and a TIAA Loyalty BonusSM for long-term savers.3 This sets TIAA apart from other lifetime income providers—just one of the many reasons to include TIAA Traditional on your plan menu.
How do I get it
Include TIAA Traditional in your plan’s default solution with TIAA RetirePlus, or as a stand-alone option on the plan menu.
Gain more control and bring the power of lifetime income to your default with TIAA RetirePlus.
Standalone annuity: TIAA Traditional
Include TIAA Traditional as an option on your plan menu to help employees live more confidently, more securely and more meaningfully—now, and for the rest of their lives.
Research spotlight
TIAA Traditonal can outperform at every stage of life, says external research.
According to independent research firm Charles River Associates, target-date glidepaths that included TIAA Traditional improved participant outcomes during saving and retirement.8 Researchers analyzed 27 scenarios using 49 years of data.
Lower risk exposure than bonds
Replacing some of the fixed income bond allocation with TIAA Traditional reduced participants’ exposure to interest rate risk. Monthly returns from TIAA Traditional were always positive, while bonds had a negative return about 1/3 of the time.8
A higher balance at retirement
Sixty-three percent of the time, participants with TIAA Traditional in their target date glide path had more money at the end of the accumulation phase, compared with participants in the standard target date glidepath.8
Larger estates
Replacing some of a typical target date glide path’s bond allocation with TIAA Traditional led to larger estates 89% of the time.6
By the numbers
TIAA Traditional: strength in numbers.
Since 1918, TIAA Traditional has been helping Americans retire with security and continues to perform today.
$295.5B in total assets
Our General Account, with $295.5B in total assets, is the long-term investment engine that fuels TIAA Traditional.5 Its scale and diversification are part of why we’ve never missed a payment to employees for more than 100 years and why we can offer bigger retirement paychecks.
33% more to spend
Standard retirement advice is to withdraw 4% each year. But if a participant turned a third of their savings into retirement checks and withdrew 4% of the remaining balance, they could have 33% more to spend.9
15% bigger checks
Participants who consistently contributed to TIAA Traditional received 15% higher lifetime income payments on average (versus those who transferred in equal savings amounts shortly before selecting lifetime income).10
Take action
Help employees protect their future.
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Check out our interest rates.
TIAA Traditional offers competitive interest rates—see how high rates are this month.
Explore TIAA Traditional contract types.
TIAA Traditional comes in different versions that vary by liquidity. Check out how they differ for participants.
Discover more lifetime income products.
TIAA has multiple ways to incorporate lifetime income into your plan menu. Explore our suite of lifetime income solutions.
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1All guarantees are based on TIAA's claims-paying ability. TIAA Traditional is a guaranteed insurance contract and not an investment for federal securities law purposes. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
2TIAA Traditional Annuity interest and income benefits include guaranteed amounts plus additional amounts as may be declared on a year-by-year basis by the TIAA Board of Trustees. The additional amounts, when declared, remain in effect through the "declaration year", which begins each March 1 for accumulating annuities and January 1 for payout annuities. Additional amounts are not guaranteed beyond the period for which they are declared.
3TIAA may share profits with TIAA Traditional Annuity owners through declared additional amounts of interest during accumulation, higher initial annuity income, and through further increases in annuity income benefits during retirement. These additional amounts are not guaranteed beyond the period for which they were declared.
4Lifetime income payments from TIAA Traditional may include a TIAA Loyalty BonusSM which is discretionary and determined annually.
5Financial Strength: The TIAA General Account, June 30, 2024. Total assets $348.5 billion. Total TIAA assets include, in addition to the General Account, separately managed accounts such as the Real Estate Account and TIAA Stable Value.
6TIAA is ranked number 2, according to SNL Financial, as of Dec. 31, 2023.
7TIAA Annual Statement (2014 – 2023), Page 4, Line 30.
8Source: “A Lifecycle Analysis of the Performance of TIAA’s Traditional Annuity in a Target Date Fund” (2023), by Conrad Ciccotello (University of Denver), Miguel Herce (Charles Rivers Associates), and Mark Meyer (Charles River Associates).
9The 2025 Annuity Payout Advantage is hypothetical and for illustrative purposes only. The Annuity Payout Advantage calculation uses the TIAA Traditional “new money” income rate for a single life annuity (SLA) with a 10-year guarantee period at age 67 using TIAA’s standard payment method beginning income on March 1, 2025. Individual results may vary. Example: Participants A and B both are aged 67 and had a retirement savings balance of $1 million as of March 1, 2025. Participant A withdrew 4% ($40,000) in year 1. Participant B made a one-time transfer to TIAA Traditional and selected an SLA with a guarantee period of 10 years, starting on March 1, 2025. Participant B received an income rate of 7.9462% ($26,487) on $333,333 annuitized in year 1; Participant B also withdrew 4% ($26,667) from the $666,667 remaining saving balance in year 1. The result ($53,154) is initial income for Participant B in year 1 that is 33% higher than the initial income of Participant A ($40,000). Income rates for TIAA Traditional annuitizations are subject to change monthly. TIAA Traditional Annuity income benefits include guaranteed amounts plus additional amounts as may be declared on a year-by-year basis by the TIAA Board of Trustees. The additional amounts, when declared, remain in effect through the "declaration year", which begins each January 1 for payout annuities. Additional amounts are not guaranteed beyond the period for which they are declared. TIAA has paid more in lifetime income than its guaranteed minimum amount every year since 1949. Over the past 30 years, TIAA has given 18 income increases to existing annuitants (as of January 2025). Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. The 2025 Annuity Payout Advantage is hypothetical and for illustrative purposes only. The Annuity Payout Advantage calculation uses the TIAA Traditional “new money” income rate for a single life annuity (SLA) with a 10-year guarantee period at age 67 using TIAA’s standard payment method beginning income on March 1, 2025. Individual results may vary. Example: Participants A and B both are aged 67 and had a retirement savings balance of $1 million as of March 1, 2025. Participant A withdrew 4% ($40,000) in year 1. Participant B made a one-time transfer to TIAA Traditional and selected an SLA with a guarantee period of 10 years, starting on March 1, 2025. Participant B received an income rate of 7.9462% ($26,487) on $333,333 annuitized in year 1; Participant B also withdrew 4% ($26,667) from the $666,667 remaining saving balance in year 1. The result ($53,154) is initial income for Participant B in year 1 that is 33% higher than the initial income of Participant A ($40,000). Income rates for TIAA Traditional annuitizations are subject to change monthly. TIAA Traditional Annuity income benefits include guaranteed amounts plus additional amounts as may be declared on a year-by-year basis by the TIAA Board of Trustees. The additional amounts, when declared, remain in effect through the "declaration year", which begins each January 1 for payout annuities. Additional amounts are not guaranteed beyond the period for which they are declared. TIAA has paid more in lifetime income than its guaranteed minimum amount every year since 1949. Over the past 30 years, TIAA has given 18 income increases to existing annuitants (as of January 2025).Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.An annuity is a product issued by an insurance company. It is an agreement that comes with a contract outlining certain guarantees. Fixed annuities guarantee a minimum rate of interest while you save and, if you choose lifetime income, a minimum monthly amount in retirement. Converting some or all of your savings to income benefits (referred to as “annuitization”) is a permanent decision. Once income benefit payments have begun, you are unable to change to another option.
10Based on an analysis of income benefits available to participants who have made level monthly contributions for 30 years to TIAA Traditional, relative to participants who deposited the same accumulated balance into TIAA Traditional just before converting to lifetime income. Assumes a participant age 67, single life annuity with a 10-year guaranteed period, and average payment differentials each month for retirement dates over the last 30 years ending Dec. 31, 2023.
TIAA Traditional is a fixed annuity product issued through these contracts by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10017: Form series 1000.24; G-1000.4 or G-1000.5/G1000.6 or G1000.7; 1200.8; G1250.1; IGRS-01-84-ACC and IGRS-02-ACC; IGRS-CERT2-84-ACC and IGRS-CERT3-ACC; IGRSP-01-84-ACC and IGRSP-02-ACC; IGRSP-CERT2-84-ACC and IGRSP-CERT3-ACC; 6008.8 and 6008.9-ACC; 1000.24-ATRA; 1280.2, 1280.4, or 1280.3 or 1280.5, or G1350. Not all contracts are available in all states or currently issued.
Annuity contracts contain exclusions, limitations, reductions of benefits and may contain terms for keeping them in force. We can provide you with costs and complete details.
The information provided herein is intended for institutional investor use only. It does not constitute an offer or recommendation to buy or sell any product or security.
This material is for informational or educational purposes only and is not fiduciary investment advice, or a securities, investment strategy, or insurance product recommendation. This material does not consider an individual’s own objectives or circumstances which should be the basis of any investment decision.