June 26, 2009

Introducing the New Quarterly Statement

Starting this quarter, we have significantly enhanced and redesigned the Quarterly Retirement Portfolio Statement to give your employees a greater range of information they can use in their retirement planning. These enhancements include new features that will make it easier for your employees to track their retirement investments. Among the new features:

• Personalized Rate of Return: An estimate of the performance of the employee’s retirement portfolio, based upon the performance of the holdings in the accounts, enabling them to see how their total accumulations performed over the previous quarter and calendar year.
  
• Retirement Income Projection: A hypothetical projection of each employee’s future retirement income amount, shown in today’s dollars, which can help your employees assess their retirement savings strategy.
  
• Plan-based Reporting: Account information for each employer-sponsored retirement plan in which your employees have participated.

To help your employees use the new statement (PDF), we have included a guide in their quarterly mailings. (Employees who have chosen to receive their statement via e-delivery will receive a link to an interactive, online version of the Guide.) Your employees can also view an online tutorial for the statement.

The new quarterly Statement includes the following sections:

Customer Service: Lists TIAA-CREF contact information your employees can use if they have questions about their accounts or the Statement.

Portfolio Summary: Shows the quarterly and year-to-date balances for the employee’s entire portfolio. It also provides an overview of account activity for the quarter and year-to-date. Employees who have outstanding PAL loans will find loan information in this section.

Retirement Income Projection: A hypothetical projection of a monthly retirement income (in today’s dollars) the employee might expect to receive, based on three factors: current retirement accumulations; current contribution levels; and if an employee makes monthly contribution increases of $100 and $250. This projection then uses generic actuarial and growth assumptions to help your employees determine if they’re saving enough to reach their goals.

Message Board: Provides important news and announcements from TIAA-CREF or from you, the employer.

Personalized Rate of Return: These rates estimate the performance of the employee’s retirement portfolio, based upon the performance of the holdings in the accounts, during the current quarter and year-to-date. These estimated rates of return enable your employees to see how their total balances performed over the previous quarter and calendar year.

Asset Allocation Summary: Provides a useful snapshot of current investment allocations. It lists holdings by asset class (in percentages) and depicts them in pie chart format for easy reference.

Activity Summary by Asset Class: Shows account/fund activity for the quarter by asset class, including beginning balance, additions, reductions, gain/loss, and ending balance.

Portfolio Breakdown: Lists the balances for the retirement plans and the other investment accounts in the employee's portfolio. For retirement plans, your employees will see the balances both by plan name and annuity contract number.

Plans: This section shows the annuity contracts and other investments in the current retirement plan, and may also include vesting information. The “Plans” section also includes the following:

• A Plan Investment Detail section, which shows the beginning and ending balances for all pretax and after-tax investments by asset class, as well as unit/share price information.
  
• A Plan Transaction Detail section, which lists all plan-based transactions, including contributions, transfers and distributions
  

Other Accounts: Provides a list of all TIAA-CREF retirement or savings accounts an employee has outside of the employer retirement plan, such as IRAs and Retiree Health Care Savings Plan accounts. The “Other Accounts” section includes the following:

• An Investment Detail section, which shows account balances at the beginning and end of the quarter, along with unit/share price information.
  
• A Transaction Detail section, which describes all account activity during the quarter, including contributions, transfers and distributions.

Annuity Contracts in Your Plans: Lists of all of the annuities in the employee’s employer-sponsored retirement plans. “Annuity Contracts in Your Plans” also includes the following:

• An Investment Summary by Contract section, which shows annuity contract balances at the beginning and end of the quarter, along with unit/share price information. 

Other Investments in Your Plans: Lists any other investments the employee has through his/her employer-sponsored retirement and retirement savings plans. “Other Investments in Your Plans” also includes the following:

• The Investment Summary section, which shows account balances at the beginning and end of the quarter, along with unit/share price information.

Glossary: Defines the terms used in the Statement, to help the employee better understand the information presented.

Disclosures: Displays required information and disclosures.

Please note that the statements are customized and include only the sections that are relevant to each employee.