TIAA-CREF Sure is Slow
Tip It!The other day I went to check the transaction history on my new 457(b) and I noticed that, even though it had been 13 days since I got paid (and thus since my monthly contributions were withheld), the money still hadn’t shown up over at TIAA-CREF. Perhaps this is standard operating procedure for most investment companies, but I’ve never run into these sorts of delays with my employer-related retirement accounts at Vanguard or Fidelity. Rather, my contributions have always shown up within a few days at the most.
Curious as to what was going on, I put in a call to TIAA-CREF. In speaking with the phone rep, I learned that it can take up to 30 (!) days for contributions to be credited to my account. The good news is that they backdate the transactions to when the money was first withheld (or so they say), so it’ll eventually be treated as if it was invested immediately, with no delay. So if you ever run into this, have no fear… It may be annoying, but there’s no real harm being done.
Published on June 14th, 2007 - 7 Comments
Filed under: Saving & Investing
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
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June 14th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
My husband’s gets his paycheck on Friday’s, his 401(k) contribution at Vanguard shows up the next Tuesday or Wednesday.
I’ve never seen 13-day delays… Very strange. And a little upsetting when you know that someone else is collecting interest on that money while it’s floating around.
June 14th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
This is typical operating procedure for TIAA-CREF (though my Roth IRA is always credited the day after the semi-monthly transfer).
June 15th, 2007 at 2:02 am
TIAA-CREF may have the best interests of investors at heart in their fund management, but their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.
My wife had a 401 account with TIAA-CREF that we wanted to roll over to Fidelity. From the time we first submitted the rollover forms, to the time that the last of her funds were finally transferred, was nearly a year. And this was with a barrage of emailing, calling, and writing to get her funds shook free.
I would hesitate to ever give them my money, unless it was my only choice from my employer.
June 15th, 2007 at 8:09 am
I don’t know why the first writer on the subject thinks it is OK to wait a month for the postings. I have waited up to 3 and 4 months for postings I hope Tiaa-Cref can get their act together or they are gong to lose a lot of customers. When you have late posting there is no one to talk to and they do not give you the curiosity of a e-mail or letter saying they are sorry. A big company with a bigger problem. I think their Board of Directors and CEO are a sleep at the wheel.
June 21st, 2007 at 10:28 am
You should really re-consider investing money w/ TIAA=CREF. My husband had a large amount of money invested w/ them through his 401K, and for over 6 months he could not get access to his account info. He also found errors in his statements. For over 6 months they told him that they were experiencing computer problems due to an upgrade in their system; however, when I did a goggle search, it turns out they have been having computer problems for more than two years plus!! It took forever for him to check that his balance was correct and even longer for him to even get access to his money. He’s now with Vanguard. Please be careful!
July 6th, 2009 at 12:34 am
Although several of these posts are several years old, they are still pertinent. If you look at many of the TIA-CREF communications and documents you will notice that they refer to “premiums” instead of to “contributions”. This dates to their history as an “insurance” company. Although I have not had problem in recent years with delayed crediting, I wrangled with them for several years on this issue. One writer is correct that they back dated the contributions but you should ask who is gaining and who is losing by this practice. I found that part of the problem was at my University (after I finally got TIAA-CREF to tell me the actual dates they received my contributions). Then with the help of other faculty and pressure on our business office they went to an all electronic transfer (overnight) and that solved the problem. The difficulty is that TIAA-CREF had to know there was a problem but was not telling you. They were and still are very paternalistic.
January 21st, 2010 at 4:39 pm
The author of this blog should be ashamed for spreading misinformation-the company posts contributions to an account the same day they are recieved, delays are usually due employer’s payroll delays or delays in mailing contributions to the company. T/C is very transparent in their reporting of this to the investor so while it is the same as everywhere else, you are just made awre of it by their honesty in this case.