TIAA smartenroll
Help more people get on the path toward retirement security.
TIAA SmartEnroll℠ is a transformational way to default enroll employees and makes it easy to get people back on the path to a more secure retirement. Retirement security shouldn’t depend on how much you know about investing.
Challenge
Plan health is determined by two groups of participants. One group may be at risk.
TIAA retirement plan participants can be divided into two groups: those who are actively investing in their retirement, and those who aren't, and may need more help to achieve their goals.1 In the group not actively managing, 64% are off their target asset allocation by two or more glidepaths.2 We see an opportunity to help more employees find a way back to greater retirement security.
Not actively managing
Unengaged
Participants who haven’t traded or leveraged any advice option in the last two years.*
Actively managing
Engaged
Participants who have traded or leveraged any advice option in the last two years.*
*Advice options include: 1) implementing advice through a financial professional or online, 2) using a managed account, 3) using a brokerage services (whether trading or not).
Solution: tiaa smartenroll
Help improve plan outcomes by supporting the unengaged. Introducing TIAA SmartEnroll.
TIAA SmartEnroll automatically enrolls unengaged participants into TIAA RetirePlus, our customizable default solution, while leaving engaged participants on their current path.

Mitigate plan health risks
Compared to those in TIAA RetirePlus, unengaged participants have asset allocations that may be inappropriate for their age and goals.

Decrease plan costs
Participants with TIAA RetirePlus have seen an average of 37% less in expenses compared with those that don’t have TIAA RetirePlus.1

Improve retirement readiness
Ensure smart decisions, stronger plan allocations and a more secure financial future for employees.
Tiaa retireplus
TIAA RetirePlus can help set employees on a path for more retirement security.
TIAA RetirePlus is a default plan strategy that preserves the benefits of a target-date structure while offering innovative solutions to today's retirement challenges. With greater control over the plan, the opportunity for lower expense ratios, and option to include the guaranteed asset class, TIAA RetirePlus can help set employees on the path to more retirement security.3
faqs
What people ask us.
What if I’m already using TIAA RetirePlus?
TIAA SmartEnroll is available for all clients: new, existing and those already using RetirePlus. SmartEnroll is a way to identify unengaged participants and re-enroll them to support them on their path towards retirement security.
How does TIAA SmartEnroll work?
TIAA SmartEnroll offers a way for plan sponsors to support employees that may need more help working towards retirement security. To begin, we analyze how employees are interacting with their retirement plans and divide employees into two groups: engaged and unengaged. Working together, we enroll unengaged employees into TIAA RetirePlus, helping to move them towards retirement security with the option for lifetime income.
When can I implement TIAA SmartEnroll?
You can implement SmartEnroll at any time. Your TIAA representative can walk you through how it would work for your business’s specific situation.
Does it cost anything to implement TIAA SmartEnroll?
No, TIAA SmartEnroll doesn't cost anything. We provide this service as part of our partnership, and in line with our mission to help people create a more secure financial future.
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1 The results indicate the probability of achieving the retirement goal based on the income replacement ratio methodology and assumptions only and do not take into account assets a participant may have outside the employer’s retirement plan. A lower probability of success is associated with better (and less likely) estimated income. Your participants can also model different outcomes for themselves by going online to tiaa.org/retirementadvisor (online Retirement Advisor tool). This tool allows participants to include assets they may hold outside the employer’s retirement plan. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
2 Data as of Dec. 31, 2024. TIAA RetirePlus clients include 648 institutions and 680,000 participants. Data includes all participants except those who are inactive and receiving income distributions, and those who are inactive and exclusively invested in nonmappable products in legacy contracts (RA/GRA/SRA/GSRA).
3 Any guarantees under annuities issued by TIAA are subject to TIAA’s claims-paying ability.
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.
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, or constitute legal or tax advice.
No registration under the Investment Company Act, the Securities Act or state securities laws—the model is not a mutual fund or other type of security and will not be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and no units or shares of the model will be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, nor will they be registered with any state securities regulator. Accordingly, the model is not subject to compliance with the requirements of such acts, nor may plan participants investing in underlying investments based on the model avail themselves of the protections thereunder, except to the extent that one or more underlying investments or interests therein are registered under such acts.
No guarantee—Neither the models nor any investment made pursuant to the models are deposits of, or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by TIAA or their affiliates (except with respect to certain annuities sponsored by TIAA or its affiliates), or insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or any other agency. There is no guarantee that the underlying investments will provide adequate income at and through retirement and participants may experience losses. Participants should not allocate their retirement savings to the underlying investments unless they can readily bear the consequences of such loss.
Assets allocated to the underlying investments based on the model will be invested in underlying mutual funds and annuities that are permissible investments under the plan. Some or all of the underlying investments included in the model may be sponsored or managed by TIAA or its affiliates and pay fees to TIAA and its affiliates. In general, the value of a model-based account will fluctuate based on the performance of the underlying investments in which the account invests. For a detailed discussion of the risks applicable to an underlying investment, please see the prospectus or disclosure document for such underlying investment.
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 distributes securities products. 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, member FINRA.
TIAA RetirePlus Select
TIAA RetirePlus Select is an asset allocation program that includes asset allocation models that a plan participant may choose to guide the investment of his or her account into underlying investment options selected by the plan sponsor (the “underlying investments”). The plan sponsor selects the specific underlying investments available under its plan to represent the various asset classes in the models. An independent third-party advisor engaged by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”) developed the target asset class ratios for the models and the TIAA RetirePlus Select is administered by TIAA as plan recordkeeper. In making TIAA RetirePlus Select available to plans, TIAA is not providing investment advice to the plans or plan participants.
The target asset class ratios for a plan participant’s model-based account will become more conservative over time as the plan participant’s years to retirement decreases. For information regarding the changes to the target allocations please contact TIAA. An account’s actual allocation percentage to an underlying investment may vary from the target allocations due to the performance of the underlying investments or other factors. Accounts invested in accordance with the models will be rebalanced to the applicable target allocations periodically. The underlying investments included in a model are subject to change and may not be representative of the current or future underlying investments for the model. Some or all of the underlying investments included in a model may be sponsored or managed by TIAA or its affiliates and pay fees to TIAA and its affiliates.
Mesirow is not affiliated with TIAA. Mesirow refers to Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc. and its divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates. The Mesirow name and logo are registered service marks of Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc. ©2024, Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved. Advisory services offered through Mesirow Financial Investment Management, Inc. an SEC-registered investment advisor.
TIAA RetirePlus Pro
TIAA RetirePlus Pro, a model-based service, is administered by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”) as plan recordkeeper.
The TIAA RetirePlus Pro Models are asset allocation recommendations developed in one of three ways, depending on your plan structure: i) by your plan sponsor, ii) by your plan sponsor in consultation with consultants and other investment advisors designated by the plan sponsor, or iii) exclusively by consultants and other investment advisors selected by your plan sponsor whereby assets are allocated to underlying mutual funds and annuities that are permissible investments under the plan. Model-based accounts will be managed on the basis of the plan participant’s personal financial situation and investment objectives (for example, taking into account factors such as participant age and risk capacity as determined by a risk tolerance questionnaire).
The plan fiduciary and the plan advisor may determine that an underlying investment(s) is appropriate for a model portfolio, but not appropriate as a stand-alone investment for a participant who is not participating in TIAA RetirePlus Pro. In such case, participants who elect to unsubscribe from the service while holding an underlying investment(s) in their model-based account that has been deemed inappropriate as a stand-alone investment option by the plan fiduciary and/or plan advisor will be prohibited from allocating future contributions to that investment option(s).
Established Restrictions: Each plan participant may, but need not, propose restrictions for his or her model-based account, which will further customize such plan participant’s own portfolio of underlying investments. The plan fiduciary is responsible for considering any restrictions proposed by a plan participant, and for determining (together with plan advisor(s)) whether the proposed restriction is “reasonable” in each case.
TIAA RetirePlus Select® is a service mark and TIAA RetirePlus® and TIAA RetirePlus Pro® are registered trademarks of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America.