Apparently I was not the only person having problems with TIAA-Cref.
When I contacted the company to report my missing contribution, the customer service representative was very helpful and assured me the account would be adjusted. I had complete confidence, and when I checked my account yesterday, the deposit had been made and backdated. My minor situation was resolved to my satisfaction.
Do you have any thoughts about TIAA-Cref? Read the over 400 comments below and leave your own if you have an experience with TIAA-Cref to share.
Updated March 7, 2011 and originally published January 11, 2006. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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I am having major problems with TIAA CREF. If you have money invested get it out right away. I am trying to get my mutual funds out now and of course I am not getting any response. The government needs to go after this outfit immediately.
Can you be more specific about your problems, Jmd? My problem was quickly resolved.
We are 7 weeks into trying to get a disbursement out of one or our accounts with TIAA/CREF. Do you have any suggestions that worked to get resolution from them? You would think in the 6 months since CNN reported about customer dissatisfction TIAA-CREF would have solved their problems…
I made sure my paperwork was perfect originally. After TIAA-Cref didn’t hold up their end of the agreement, I called every week about the issue and was always polits. I don’t think it came down to human error, per se. Their systems for transfers were backed up so much. It is still human error by the fact that no one should have ever let the system get in such a condition.
I have been having a problem with TC for almost 2 months. I left my previous employer after a only having 3 months paid in, have been trying to get ahold of those funds for two months. They have either not sent, or sent the wrong paperwork. Once I got the correct paperwork the fax was lost. I was given the incorrect info on filling it out. Now they have had the correct paperwork and a check was suppose to have been mailed on a week ago, it still has not arrived.
Stay on top of them. I was in your position in 1994. I thought I had gotten all my money out of TIAA-CREF. They stopped sending me statements. I just found out that they never processed one of the requests and now I have to take out 10% over ten years. It’s only $400 a year but it’s over $2K. A big nuisance. Call them twice a day every day if you have to. Don’t end up like me !
TIAA/Cref has still not corrected errors to my account since June. I have now filed a complaint with the SEC as I just keep getting the run around from TIAA/CREF. I was told by one employee that the transaction errors that the software made are actually my fault! Well I know one thing for sure, I requested in writing, that the funds from my previous employer be transfered to Vanguard in JUne and to date the transfer is still incomplete.
I have been locked out of my main TIAA-CREF account since June 2006, and cannot make any asset transfer within the account. They keep telling me the problem will be “investigated.” Nothing ever happens. I have filed a complaint with the SEC.
I had and still have problems with scheduled transfers and with accessing my account online for many weeks now. I suggest everyone fax their transfer request like i have been doing. Still my account isn’t updated online but they do show that I have made transfer requests. The fax number I use is 1-800-914-8922. Can anyone tell me how to contact the SEC?
I have been having problems with TIAA Cref since July 2006 with a simple request of changing my loan to a montly billing. All the customer reps say it will be done, yet each month it is not, and now I am getting the runaround. The last person I talked with in customer resolutions tells me that they are so backed up it takes a couple of months. Now it has been almost 6 months! I believe this is unacceptable behavior. Does anyone else have this problem?
My two nieces have separate TIAA-CREF mutual fund accounts. In early December I mailed Christmas investments to their accounts using the PO box shown in the TIAA CREFF mutual fund Q & A under “where to mail fund investments.” Two weeks later, my check came back to me from the post office, “no such address.” When I contacted TIAA CREF by telephone the customer rep advised me the PO Box shown on the website is not correct. It was changed over a year ago. TIAA CREF needs to get its act together
I am having major problems with deposits made to my TIAA-CREF accounts – thishas now been for several months. I have tried getting this fixed without success. My impression is that TIAA-CREF is completely un-responsive. I have three questions:
a) How widespread are the current problems with TIAA-CREFF. Am I alone ?
b) Can anyone recommend a method that will help. I should note that after failing to get any action taken (despite being toild many times that my problem was being “escalated”) I have written to the board of trustees and I have filed formal complaints with NASD & SEC, These actions led to a phone call (the first time that I have been called by TIAA-CREF) – I was told again that “my problem” was being “escalated” again, Nothing has happened. What should I do now.
c) TIAA-CREF acts as if they have no legal liability – is this true ?
Comments and advice would be appreciated.
Roger
Reading the comments and problems cited above gives me very little solace and very serious concerns. My problem is somewhat different. In December of 2001 I asked for a transfer of funds from one of my accounts into another. While funds were moved, the WRONG funds were moved but my quarterly statements indicated that everything was exactly as I had intended it to be. Then, in December of 2005 (yes, four years later) I received a phone call indicating that they discovered an error in a “routine audit” and corrected it by taking back 25% of my total accumulations! What? They do “routine audits” every four years? The world’s largest retirement program? I’ve been in touch with the CEO who passed my inquiry on to a senior “team manager” who wrote me last October assuring me another “senior manager” would be in touch with me shortly. Well, here we are … 1/20/2007 … and no further contact. I do believe they have liability for their error … an error they admit THEY made … and that liability is to restore my account’s balance to what it would presently be had the error been reflected in the quarterly statements in which event it would have been reversed ~ 3/31/2002. Barton
I have had major problems with TIAA-CREF. I requested an electronic withdrawal to be paid to my bank checking account from a retirement account December 5th… for $6,315 it has yet to be sent to my bank by today, January 25th, 2007. I have called daily for the past two weeks and was assured each time that it would receive rush action. Yesterday, I was assured that it would go out yesterday; yet today, it has not been sent and I could obtain no assurance as to the ‘date’ that it would be sent. So much for timely response to requests. Overall, I have talked with more than 10 TIAA-CREF personnel and their documentation includes most of the interactions, including the emails and letters that remain unanswered.
Whatever the problems are, they appear to be serious and raise many serious questions, including deception and mismanagement.
T-C must have very powerful lobbyists. In May ’05 they unilaterally and suddenly dropped service to internationally based U.S. institutions, including mine, citing post-911 difficulties “…for companies like ours to service the clients abroad while maintaining the highest level of service for the majority of our clients in the United States.” [You're supposed to laugh.]
On our end, that meant contributions directed to a new provider while we are held (despite legal challenges) to the pre-existing “contract” restrictions that applied when we had an intact plan, but minus the benefits of same.
What I’m seeing here shows that you stateside folks are getting the same “highest level of service” that we’ve come to expect: nice helpful folks on the phone but little action (especially when trying to move money *out*). Phone reps contradict each other with impunity, and the only record is on their end. Worst case for me was last year when I almost lost a home I was buying. Eventually I got my loan and an apology for the “misinformation” I’d received, but only with heavyweight employer intervention. The saga continues.
TIAA-CREF is three months behind in crediting voluntary contributions to my 403(b) plan made through payroll deductions by my employer, a non-profit with about 80 employees. Most of our employees are in the same position, but it is us older ones, who are maxing out our voluntary contributions, who are experiencing the disappearance of thousands of dollars each. TIAA-CREF personnel are polite but have initiated three separate “research requests” with absolutely no result. Our employer is transmitting the funds and supporting documentation properly and on time and we can prove that. This is a gross breach of a contractual and fiduciary responsibility. I am preparinag to pursue a complaint to whatever regulatory authorities have jurisdiction on such matters and would welcome any knowledge or advice. I also will not hesitate to file suit if that is what it takes to get their attention. If you were depositing cash in a bank account, and the bank took the cash but then never credited your account, wouldn’t you be hopping mad, too?
My problems have now (finally) been fixed – 7 months after the problems ocurred (see #11 above).
My impression is that most of the actions I took were completely ineffective, including numerous phone calls to customer relations and complaints filed with NASD & SEC. In retrospect, the only action that resulted in my problem being fixed (although still very slowly) was sending a complaint to the Board of Trustee. There is a link on the TIAA-CREF web-page. I recommend that anyone else with TIAA-CREF problems should do this.
I hope that this is helpful.
Roger
I just discovered the comments relating to TIAA-CREF. I feel somewhat better knowing that I am not alone. I processed paperwork in Feb. 2006 to start RMD from my 403(b) in Dec. of 06. When MRD did not appear I started calling. It took 5 weeks to finally get almost the correct amount. Part of RMD was in wrong year. I spent almost 50 hours attempting to get my money. Do we have grounds for a class action suit? jim
My comment is much like number 17 by Jim, a request for a RMD that has required numerous phone calls and e-mail and is still not resolved.
The comments on this Web site must reflect just a tiny percentage of the thousands who are receiving poor service.
The University of Minnesota has dropped TIAA-CREF from its approved TDA programs because of poor customer service. TIAA-CREF should stop spending so much on advertising and use these resources to fix their problems
Morgan
I have requested a loan for the second time over a few months to help my parents out. The first time it took almost 2 1/2 months to process the paperwork – they said mine was escalated.. I am not approaching 1 month wait on this one – they did send a payment but it did not match either loan request I submitted. I requested the President or Director (what they are called) to call me with a date of when I would be getting my funds…. no one has called. Who do I complain to?
My wife has been unable to start her annuity payments. We have been lied to repeatedly. There has been NO ACTION on her duly-submitted paperwork.
This is very, very serious for us and probably for thousands of others. What, if anything, can be done?
TIAA-CREF continues to be shamelessly unresponsive to requests for service. In October 2006 I completed and forwarded to them forms required for the minimum required distributions from my retirement accounts. The organization began the distribution from some of my accounts, but with no explanation failed to begin the distribution from others. In March of this year I submitted a second form, but with no result or explanation. In response to an e-mail a representative sent some vague information about how much I should receive from these accounts. A telephone representative told me there were errors with the placement of account numbers and guided me through the completion of two more forms.
Whether there were errors or not the intent of my submission in 2006 was perfectly clear, and a truly responsive organization would have worked through the errors with me. An organization with normal consideration would have quickly informed me of the errors and instructed me how to rectify them. I can only conclude that TIAA-CREF is not very considerate.
I’ve had it with TIAA-CREF. I don’t trust them with my money, and neither should you. In a family emergency two weeks ago, I contacted them about a “distribution on employee contract” (my own voluntarily-contributed portion of my aggressive, i.e., liquid, allocations). I was put through an absolute nightmare which is ongoing as I type this. I was told flat out that my entire employee portion was now in a TIAA Traditional plan and thus I could not withdraw funds other than 10% each year for 10 years. This literally floored me, I had never signed up for a traditional account!!! After finally getting the form for at least a 10% distribution, I discovered another coworker was also going through the same nightmare. I had my employer pull my record and, indeed, quite clearly when the plan was set up I had chosen an aggressive portfolio and NOT a TIAA Traditional account. My employer contacted TIAA-CREF who offered no apology but merely a “we will make the adjustments necessary and the employee will now have to fill out an ED48 withdrawal form.” This, all the while they now have a form requesting money from a “traditional” account. What a mess. I am presuming they will make the required adjustments and make this right very swiftly as this entire situation is under close watch by my employer and the plan representative from TIAA-CREF to assure fast turnaround due to hardship (family emergency). Time will tell. I will, however, clearly state here that it is my personal opinion that TIAA-CREF is entirely dysfunctional as a company. I was given different information each time I called daily over a two-week period, with some of the representatives expressing an extreme lack of interest in following through to assure my questions were answered. Now that I am aware that this is happening with other employees where I work as well, i.e., their liquid aggressive portfolios becoming a “traditional” account magically overnight, I am certain that thousands throughout the country are having their own accounts misadjusted and their investments utilized in a completely irresponsible manner and they are not yet aware…until they too have a family emergency and need money quick and are told “your account is TIAA Traditional” when they had signed up for an aggressive non-traditional portfolio!!
Here it is December 2010 and the same thing is still happening. I also have a family emergency and am told I cannot have MY money. I am not asking for a BAILOUT just for MY money. I will go to the end to fight this total lack of uncaring. I too was told different information by two different representatives, upon asking the same question of both. I was told not to take this personally, as a woman with terminal cancer who had been given only 3 months to live made the same request “we did not give her her money either”. I was sickened. What a total lack of uncaring on anyone’s part let alone those who you are told are looking out for your best interests. If no one else can solve the problem or answer you question you are sent to the “Customer Care Team” where there is no CARE going on in any way shapre or form. On their website they boast of being a $583 billion dollar company. I question, if they are worried about my $44,000 making a difference in their funds there must be some misdoing going on. A ponzi scheme, a pyramid scheme something does not seem right about all of this. What does anyone else think?
These comments are very interesting. I thought the problems I had were only me. In l997 my late husband was suddenly desperately ill. He had an IRA at TC (as well as a TIAA annuity contract). As his wife, I had a durable power of attorney covering all financial and medical matters (I was also an academic with funds at TC). that my attorney assured me was completely legally binding and correct. TC would not allow me to access my husband’s IRA funds for the purpose of covering the costs of his hospital and subsequent nursing home care. Their excuse was that my power of attorney was not typed on “their” paperwork and did not include words excluding them from all legal consequences of honoring my desperate request to access his funds. It was necessary for me to liquidate a large portion of my own SRA funds, nearly all of our non-retirement funds and borrow a large amt of money at credit card rates to pay for his care. When he died in early l998, it was necessary for me to borrow money at credit card rates to bury him. It has taken years (and who knows how much credit card interest) to pay off the debts from his illness and death. Our financial security was destroyed and my life turned into a nightmare. I
tried multiple times to speak with someone at TC who might be helpful – of course, all to no avail. My attorney continued to tell me that the paperwork I had was completely and totally correct. Since my husband was so ill there was no way the durable power of attorney could be redone on TC paperwork as he was no longer able to sign his name. Hence the attorney could do nothing to help us.
Good luck to all of you. At the time the situation was so desperate that it never occurred to me that this was a systemic problem with TC – I just assumed it was my bad luck and not having anyone in the family with the legal knowledge to help us.
(This is the first time I have ever posted on the net. However the troubles all of you have and are experiencing reflect in so many ways the many issues I have had with TC, including issues with my own funds, that I felt it appropriate to break my silence).
I am having major problems with TIAA. My automatic deductions have been sent to TIAA according to my payroll office, but TIAA has not posted any contributions that have been sent in on my account since 11/06!!!! It has been 6 months of my trying to get this corrected and updated. I have called and emailed countess TIAA reps. I’m told that someone is researching this. No one can even tell me what my current balance is at this time. This is unbelieveable. When you call, they act like you are the only one with this issue and they don’t let on that others are going through the same nightmare!!
I was locked out of my TIAA-CREF account for 6 months. There is an easy solution: file a formal complaint with the SEC. That got my problem solved. If you just complain to TIAA they will tell you they are “investigating� the problem, but will do nothing. It is amazing how much incompetence this company can display without consequences.
I’m another victim. T-C has lost track of my employer contributions every month since October 06. Calling their customer service is a complete waste of time. Go to http://www.sec.gov/complaint.shtml to see how to file a complaint with the SEC. That’s the only way to get a response, but even when they fix one month’s screw-up and assure the SEC everything is fine and dandy, they screw up the next month’s contribution and you have to do it again. This company is criminally incompetent. Employers owe a duty to their employees to stop using this company. Their advertising is blatantly false and the SEC should close them down or turn the assets over to a competent honest receiver.
TIAA-CREF made a big mess of my 403(b) contribution!!!
I have my 403(b) account with TIAA-CREF since 08/01/2006.
On 04/13/2007, TIAA-CREF sent me a letter mentioned that my account got switch from a RA account to a GSRA account. The letter cached my attention, so I started
looking into my account activity. The more I compared the number among various statements and the website information, the more confused I was. Finally I
realized TIAA-CREF made a whole mess of my contribution and provided inaccurate financial statement. I made so many calls and more than a month passed, there is no correction made to my 403(b) account, and there is big difference between the
contribution from my payroll statement, and the TIAA-CREF statement:
1. In year 2006, TIAA-CREF’s statement shows only half of my contribution, without any indication of my employer’s match.
2. My employer made consistent remittance to TIAA-CREF every month. But TIAA_CREF’s statement show no balance increase from 12/30/06 to 3/31/07.
3. There is big difference between 03/31/07 to current. From 03/31/07 to current, my balance jump 3 times of my previous quarter. There is no explanation why there is a big jump all of a sudden. The life-to-Date contribution has my employer total contribution correct (but nowhere else I can see the detail), but
employee life-to-date contribution is less than my total contribution. There is no track of all my contribution either.
I requested the investigation for over a month. So far there is no progress at all. Even the service representative can immediately spot the problem from their screen. No one in TIAA-CREF really looked at the mess they created. So I am looking for any suggestion and push to TIAA-CREF. Plus, I would like to see if there is any
legal liability that TIAA-CREF can not keep track of customer’s financial transaction. Since my money didn’t get in the account on time, how do I recover
the lost of my investment due to TIAA-CREF’s mistake?
TIAA CREF has serious customer service problems and the problems detailed on this page are quite typical. Their call center operators are completely ill-equipped to deal with most customer problems. They have been going through a major system conversion for the last several years, and almost all problems are blamed on technical glitches beyond their control. It’s frustrating for those of us who have depended on TIAA CREF and don’t have other options.
I have been a TIAA-CREF participant since 1975. Now in the distribution phase, I have had an absurd level of difficulty in getting money out of CREF accounts. I began the process in August 2006 and finally resolved the last problem in May of 2007. Those planning on retiring had better (1) start the process early, (2) have six months or more of reserve funds to live on during delays, (3) have their employer’s benefits people in support, (4) have lots of patience.
TIAA-CREF used to be run for the benefit of its participants. Now, I am convinced it is being run for the benefit of management, much like a bank. I have been getting periodic payments from a CREF account now for about six months. I have noticed that electronic funds transfers are almost always issued near a weekend even if they have to be delayed several days to do so. The only time a transfer was initiated on the first of a month was when that occurred on a Friday (June 2007). Now, why do you suppose that is? Could it be that TIAA-CREF wants the float even though this approach costs its participants? To me, the interest loss is small, but in aggregate I’d bet the amount is pretty large.
Something unhealthy has happened to the way TIAA-CREF is run that goes beyond the fiasco with the computer system upgrade. If I were starting over, I would go with Vanguard, Fidelity, or similar if available and stay away from TIAA-CREF.
I’ve also had problems with TC, though different than those stated above.
Mine centers around trying to give them money for my roth.
Was told to have everything postmarked by 4/17, and I did. I’ve had to ontinually follow-up to tyr and get them to take the contribution. I’ve been told many things, including the fact that it would be done that day (never was) and then a week later that I couldn’t contribute because I don’t have a Roth (I do, and have been contributing for several years). Now, after nearly 8 weeks of runaround, I get a letter stating that they are no longer accepting 2006 contributions!?!?!
I am a reporter with eWeek magazine and have covered the issues at TIAA-CREF in depth. I was under the impression that many of the company’s systems upgrade issues were resolved, but looking at these posts that doesn’t seem to be the case.
If, as of June 2007, you are still having issues with TIAA-CREF and are willing to speak to the press, please contact me, either via email or by phone. I can be reached at renee_ferguson@ziffdavis.com, or 518.580.8515.
This will be the 3RD straight year that i have not recieved my Annual Payout from my Annuity at TIAA-CREF on time. The payment is supposed to be Directly Deposited into my Bank Account on May 1. I have to make phone Calls to Customer Service Staff including Supervisors who tell me Basicly anything from where Very Sorry this happended again, we are having Trouble Understanding the Rules of your plan, and we will send you Different Paperwork Etc. So far this year, I have sent 2 Sets of paperwork, made 6 Phone Calls, and still have not recieved my Annual Payout as of this date. I resigned my position at Lake forest College in 2007.
Similar story here. After paying in for over 11 years I got laid off. I have a new job starting in August but needed some funds to pay off some bills. I requested a withdrawal over 4 weeks ago and every week I’ve been told the money will be transferred to my account by Friday. It hasn’t happened yet. I’ve also been promised every week that a supervisor will call me. This also has not happened. At this point my bills are late and I can’t get any satisfaction. I have sent an email to the trustees, filed with SEC, and contacted the reporter above as of today.
I filed the paperwork for my annuity payouts at the end of March, asking for an end of June beginning for my payments. I had a new campus representative help me fill out my paperwork, and he was so nervous and made so many mistakes, I pulled out my CREF contributions and only annuitiezed my TIAA money.
My first payment was deposited on the 18th of this month and was 1/3 rd of what I had been told I would receive. I have called almost every day since. At first they could not find the rest of my contributions so they could not tell me what my payout would be. When they did find the other money, I was assured that contract was in “processing” and if I called back on Thursday, they could tell me what I would be receiving. Today (Thursday) they still couldn’t tell me what I would be getting; they only have my balance as of 12/31/06 posted, although I’ve made contributions in January, February, March, April, May, and June. Every time I call I get someone new and have to go through the same story, and wait on hold for anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes. I am filing a complaint with the SEC and telling my co-workers to pull their money out of TIAA as quickly as possible.
I have to add my voice to those complaining about poor service.
I would suggest that anyone who can get out of TIAA-CREF do so.
I have been going back and forth for 4 months now trying to get my traditional IRA and previous employer’s 403b funds transferred to my current employer’s plan.
TIAA-CREF follow through and delays have been ridiculous. Now, they are refusing to fill out the form requested by my current employer’s plan. TC tells me they are not authorized to sign the form, which simply states that the funds came from a tax deferred employer plan.
I have filed a complaint with the NASD. We will see what happens.
As you can see, I am a former employee having worked there for many years. Most importantly I am also a customer as TIAA employees use the same products that are offered to customers. Having worked there for so long, my assets are substantial. I have also experienced poor service and have been given wrong information. Unlike the general populace, I can get access to more senior level consultants to correct the problems but even then it takes far too long.
Fort-two percent of the employees have been there two years or less. Morale is extremely poor. It is no wonder that service is poor. Don’t blame the employees. When the current CEO came on board several years ago, there was a need for change and improvement. He seemingly had a plan. However, the execution has been dreadful. Attempts to correct the initial problems have made the situation worse. Decisions have been made by individuals who didn’t understand the business, most notably the CIO and head of HR. Both individual and institutional customers are pulling out their assets. Those of us who can’t are very worried about the future. It is astounding that the Boards of Trustees have let this continue.
As a follow-up to the comments in #34: When the current CEO came in, TIAA-CREF had multiple computer systems throughout the divisions, most of which could not “talk” to one another. With the new CEO, systems were ripped out and thrown away, as were most of the IT people who knew what really had to be done. [One, a good friend of mine, dropped dead from the pressures he and his staff were under.]
On vacation last December, I happened to talk to someone I didn’t know, who – it turns out – is from an outside firm which has been brought in to help correct all of the systems problems. He’d been there [if I remember correctly] at least 6 months. And had no idea how long it’s going to take to fix the situation.
When I retire in a year or two, I intend to go to an IRA I have with another company and spread the money over three or four years. By then TIAA-CREF might have it’s problems solved.
Oh, those systems that didn’t talk to one another? Well, the staff members in the various divisions could, and they could work together to get you your money and fix any problems you might have. Those staff members have now, for the most part, been thrown in together so that everyone is expected to know how to do anything and everything. Kind of like calling the plumber if you have a toothache. Too many very qualified people have been fired or have quit. Good luck!
I have also been a participant for quite a while. As a former employee I can tell you with a background of knowledge that service is very poor and employee morale is very low. Current management is failing. I suggest that you do as others have done. Contact the Board of Trustees and vote on the Exec Comp plan. If you go to the website you will see information about this. It is time for a change.
It took about a year to do a simple change of beneficiary request with TIAA-CREF.
During that time I called numerous times, responded as requested with letters and documentation (including both registered and overnight letters), and although I was assured that they had all the information they needed, when I would later check back I would find that nothing had changed.
I was never notified at any point that there was a problem, nor did I receive a reply from any of my correspondence.
Finally, I got a call from an executive with a promise that it would be taken care of…and eventually (after more forms and telephone calls)it was.
After all this I was concerned about the fate of my retirement funds, so I have now started to withdraw my money.
Was this article written?
I worked for the organization for about 8 years in the capacity of a senior consulting rep. It amazes me to see that the problems persist after having left about a year ago.
I will be quite candid about the scope of the problems – management has seen to it that, if an employee is honest to participants about the problems, they are soon pressured to leave. I speak from direct experience. Employees work in fear that a loss of their position is likely if they don’t tell lies.
Management has no credibility. The CEO has seen to it that only those employees who remain must cower to his directions to survive. They may be a giant in the industry, but their problems are simply not being addressed by management.
It looks like changes are afoot at TIAA-CREF. The Chief Technology Officer has been forced out. Another EVP responsible for Customer Services has announced her retirement. The word on the street is that more changes are coming. Perhaps the Board of Trustees is now willing to agree that major mistakes and poor decisions have been made by senior management including the CEO and HR head.
The article has been published. The main one is http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2172289,00.asp and one about sunguard is http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2172465,00.asp and lastly TIAA-CREF’s response http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2172530,00.asp
Does anyone have advice on selection of a legal firm to sue TIAA/CREF for damages? They incorrectly placed a loan of mine in default, wiping out thousands in retirement savings and potentially costing me thousands in taxes. I have attempted to get them to correct this but they are useless.
Hi, I am wondering if you ever found a legal firm to sue TIAA-CREF? If so would appreciate your input and level of satisfaction.
Thanks,
Yan
If you found a good attorney please email their info. We are experiencing problems with TIAA regarding the changing of beneficiary designations over the internet. Thank you, Bill
I cannot remember the last time I was able to smoothly execute a transaction with TIAA/CREF. Today, I called to find out what was happening to a request for withdrawal from a money market account, faxed to them 7 days ago. They informed me that the request was declined because (get a load of this!) my spouse’s notarized authorization to withdraw the funds was signed the day before I had signed the form. First of all, I cannot find, on the form, specific instructions regarding dates of signatures, and that rule seems incredibly silly to me. Second, no one felt an obligation to call me (when I had specifically requested to be called if there was a question about the request) to inform me that the request was declined.
This is only one among several similar issues I have had with TIAA/CREF over the past 2 – 3 years. Like other contributors to this blog, I am so angry that I am ready to sue that organization if I have a chance to do so. And like others, I am planning to move my funds to another fund manager. Whatever changes were announced or expected earlier this year are simply not happening.
Greetings,
Everyone who has left a comment on this site should file a complaint with the SEC. After a while, it doesn’t matter how powerful their lobbyists might be. TIAA CREF will be sending them to DC to do damage control instead of figuring out new ways to screw us out of our money.
I am also writing a letter to the House Committee on Financial Services.
I knew that there was no way I could be the only person to whom this is happening. Next, I am going to be making calls to business reporters I know who may not be familiar with how the investment firm with a conscience is sticking it to its clients.
Go to the SEC website and file a complaint. Then send a letter to the House Committee on Financial Services. The more we make noise in the right place, the less room the folks at CREF will have to hide.
I just sent the following letter to a financial columnist at the Washington Post. Feel free to use the text to help spread your story:
TIAA-CREF won’t release my money and the money of many others
As a reader of your column and someone who feels that you are
genuinely concerned about the financial well-being of the public, I
wanted to bring the following information to your attention.
I have been trying for more than an month to cash out of an account I
have with TIAA-CREF. I was unemployed for a while and desperately
need this money to make my mortgage payment (which I locked in at
around 6.25%). However, the folks at CREF have been giving me the run
around the entire time, and upon doing a Google search, I found out
that my problem is insignificant compared to what others have been
forced to endure at the hands of this company. You can see some of
the stories here. I am sure you will notice how similar they are:
http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/problems-with-tiaa-cref/#comment-123625
If you would like to hear more about my story, please feel free to
contact me at XXX.XXX.XXXX.
TIAA-CREF claims to be the in the businesses of “financial services
for the greater good.” But based on the stories being told on this
website, it looks like they are doing considerably more harm than
good. And, I suspect this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
I started a new 403(b) account with TIAA-CREF earlier this year after starting with a new employer simply because my old employer used TIAA-CREF. Within three months, I realized things were very wrong (for many of the same reasons noted by others here–missing contributions, misallocated funds, incredibly incompetent customer service) and opened a new 403b with Vanguard. It took me three more months to get my money wrested from TIAA-CREF’s grubby fingers and into my Vanguard account. but I am out of there.
Looking at this blog, it is clear that the problems are systemic. For more evidence, check out the below recent article, and get out if you can.
link
Retirement fund a poor education
November 30, 2007
Dear Mr. Berko: Last year I retired from teaching at the City College of New York and have a large sum of money in a 403(b) with Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) the long-term performance of which has been about 4.6 percent, which is awful. I’ve been taking distributions and the TIAA-CREF clerks are dumber than the Burger King people you write about.
I’ve made over 20 phone calls this year and those clerks continue to deduct excessive withholdings from my checks, include service charges of which I know nothing, send checks that are short by hundreds of dollars and it just goes on and on and on.
How can I get out of this lousy 403(b) before I have a heart attack?
The other concern is my wife, who also teaches and has a TIAA-CREF 403(b). She’s 12 years younger and the performance of her plan is terrible compared to the plans of some of our friends who are in private industry. Is there any way to cancel her 403(b) with TIAA-CREF and move it to a better venue?
And can you tell me and at least a dozen other professors who are similarly disgusted why TIAA-CREF has performed so poorly compared to other plans and why they are having so much difficulty issuing checks to others and me.
S.B. Syracuse, N.Y. Dear S.B.: TIAA-CREF (TC) does poorly because they have a captive and trusting clientele so there’s no incentive to hire good people to manage your money. And because the TC administration has investors by the kidneys there’s no incentive to pay for competent clerical personnel. Your complaints about TC’s clerical staff and accounting nightmares are common. I’ve received hundreds of letters from pensioners and investors who have been denied access to their accounts.
TC is a $500 billion pension fund (they also peddle Individual Retirement Accounts, high-commission low-yield annuities, costly Simplified Employee Pension IRAs, expensive life insurance, and Roth IRAs, etc.) that has insinuated itself, like tapeworms into 15,000 colleges, schools, research centers and nonprofit institutions.
TIAA-CREF has some of the poorest long-term investment results in the nation. TC only has eight mutual funds with 10-year records: its growth fund has a 10-year performance record of 3.6 percent, its balanced fund has a 6.8 percent 10-year annual return while its bond fund’s 10-year average return is 5.6 percent and its best-performing funds, a real estate fund, has a 9.8 percent 10-year return.
TC’s other four funds have 10-year annual returns of less than 7 percent. Well those 10-year returns don’t butter my bagel or blow my whistle. And those returns are before annual 1 percent management fees paid by many TC 403(b) plans. But what does a teacher know about returns?
However, if you’re a teacher you should know that TIAA-CREF’s retirement annuity has a sizzling 5.9 percent 10-year return. Well pass the hoecake, hominy stew and sassafras tea, my two dogs Catfish and Cornbread can do better than 5.9 percent wearing blindfolds and earplugs.
TC has taken on 15 or so new funds with limited two- and five-year performance records, which are insulting to knowledgeable investors. As you know, long-term past performance is critical in selecting mutual funds. And because I always examine a fund’s 10- to 20-year record, the performance of the funds recommended in this column make those TC funds smell like swamp mud.
However, TC believes its clients are dumber than a bag of bowling shoes because they expect you folks to select funds with limited performance records to serve you for the best of your financial life. That’s pure unbridled arrogance and unacceptably disrespectful.
TC had over $2 billion in net income from you folks in 2006. Some cynics suggest that they make sizable annual donations to the National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors who approve and support your 403(b) plans. Those contributions keep the doors closed to better competitors. Certainly Dodge & Cox, Vanguard, T. Rowe Price and Fidelity have 10- and 20-year records and the performance of their funds outshines, by orders of magnitude, the trash offered to you by TC. And certainly the annual fees of Fidelity, etc., are a lot less than those enormous fees you pay to TC.
You can move your 403(b) to an IRA at any brokerage firm, which should solve your accounting fiasco and the expanded choice of funds would give you better performance. It’s time to take the politics out of pension plan business and give performance and profits to the participants. Two billion dollars a year is a lot of vigorish to be earned by a nonprofit organization that claims its dedication to providing retirement security to those in the teaching profession. TIAA-CREF’s performance, its perverted back office, its $2 billion of annual income, the huge salaries and perks paid to TC’s administrators, its poor choice of investment alternatives and high cost are officious and insulting to its captive participants.
I suggest that you and your dozen dissatisfied professors ring Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Vanguard, Dodge & Cox, etc. and ask them how you can exit from the iron grip of the Teachers Insurance Annuity Association-College Retirement Equity Fund.
Please address your financial questions to Malcolm Berko, P.O. Box 1416, Boca Raton, FL 33429 or e-mail him at malber@comcast.net.
Dear Friends,
I recently made a post referencing problems I WAS having with TIAA-CREF, and I would like to share the outcome of my case in the hopes that my course of action might work for others:
After two months of wrangling with TIAA-CREF, I was finally able to get a portion of my money. When I called to get the rest, the company told me that they had made a mistake and that it would be 12-15 business days before they could send out the rest of the funds. I knew from my previous interaction with them that they have a system in place to “walk through� payment requests and to get them processed in 3-5 business days. I pushed for the 3-5 day process.
To make a long story short, I told the customer service phone rep to send a message to his supervisor informing him that as soon as I hung up the phone I was going to follow up with the SEC regarding the complaint I filed against TIAA-CREF (I gave them the name of the staff attorney and the file number for my complaint).
You can file a complaint against TIAA-CREF with the SEC at the following link: http://www.sec.gov/complaint.shtml.
The outcome was that the balance of my money was in my checking account in less than 24 hours. Furthermore, it was seemingly impossible to get anyone at the company to do anything that would help me or resolve my case. But after mentioning the SEC, I received at least two calls from TIAA-CREF employees following up –finally—on my case letting me know how sorry they were.
Do not settle for what TIAA-CREF tells you!!!! File your complaint with the SEC. Then call them and give them a file number.
Good Luck!!
Ed
To be fair, Berko’s article sounds pretty one-sided. I found a link to TIAA-CREF’s response at
http://www.tiaa-cref.org/about/press/about_us/releases/pressrelease218.html
Check it out.
With reference to the link posted by “Rob”: Can you tell us, sir, that you are not an employee or paid flack for TIAA-CREF?
With reference to my post of March 8, 2007, I ultimately received resolution after filing a complaint with the National Association of Securities Dealers. TIAA-CREF never did give me the courtesy of a response to any of my requests, but lo and behold, more than $5000 in long-missing contributions were credited to my account about two weeks after I filed the complaint. To this date, my employer has been totally unsuccessful in getting TIAA-CREF to provide records supporting the dates for which the contributions of me and my other colleagues who experienced long delays were credited, which were requested because it is impossible otherwise to assure everyone that their contributions were properly credited. TTIAA-CREF’s service remains unconscionably poor.
as another former t-c employee with 10 years in their customer service, I can share a lot about the inner workings of getting money in and out.
when i “left” the company (practically involuntary) the new ceo (a complete piece of work from merrill lynch – nuff said) completely demoralized the entire company with his changes. the changes effectively caused anyone in upper management with a brain to be replaced by high paid puppets with no clue. he basically replaced clerks with tons of experience to run things smoothly for unmotivated low paid clerks to push paper.
reading the comments about getting money out being troublesome is disturbing. before i left,when forms received are approved, money is sent within 3 days or less. sometimes getting money out the first time can be delayed for misc issues related to error on forms completion, employer confirmation of termination of employment, or t-c data entry error. fixing some the human errors by employee, employer, or tiaa-cref is easy on a manual basis can be resolved relatively quickly. but processing millions of transactions on an automated is necessary and cost effectively if the programming isnt jacked up. simply put the ceo isn’t owning up to the problems and is absurb for him to still have his job and to be paid a huge bonus for non-results. the worst part is that if fired he would still be paid too much money.
fyi-imo moving your money to fidelity and the like is not necessarily any better.
Hi,
We are having difficulty getting TIAA to honor my Father’s internet designation because his ex-wife is contesting it. Funny thing is they honored it for his life insurance policy. Any hints? Thank you, Bill
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