UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – TIAA Penn State retirement programs for employees and retirees will receive updates this spring as part of a regular plan review process. Basic plan designs, including contributions and eligibility criteria, will remain the same. The updates are designed to provide participants with various benefits, including lower investment expense ratios for some investment options and potentially higher overall crediting rates and greater liquidity for one of the plans’ other investment options.
These updates do not apply to employees or retirees enrolled in the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS), unless they also are enrolled in supplemental retirement programs through TIAA.
Which plans are receiving updates?
Beginning on April 11, the investment option menus of the Alternate Retirement Plan (ARP), Tax-Deferred Annuity Plan (TDA or the 403(b) Plan) and 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan, will be updated. Employees and retirees participating in these current plans may also be enrolled in a new type of plan account. Most investment options will continue to be available to participants, and new options will be added. Some will be replaced with new or existing options similar to those previously available. The updates are part of the Penn State Retirement Oversight Committee’s ongoing work, in collaboration with an independent retirement plan consultant, to provide the best retirement options for University employees and retirees enrolled in TIAA programs.
How can I learn more?
Additional detailed information about forthcoming plan updates is available on the TIAA Penn State website, and program participants should look for a detailed, printed guide to arrive in the mail starting the week of March 13 (a digital version of the guide is available here). TIAA also will hold a series of live webinars between March 20 and 30, which are open to registration now, to discuss the plan updates in greater detail.
All materials and webinars will explain how these updates may affect participant account(s) and what actions, if any, may need to be taken.
All Penn State TIAA plan participants have access to retirement planning resources through TIAA, including investment education and advice sessions with a licensed financial consultant. The transition guide, which will be mailed to all program participants, will include specific information on how plan participants may access these available resources. Please contact TIAA at 1-800-842-2252 or go to www.tiaa.org/psu for further information.