Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Support MFO
Donate through PayPal
Rebranded TIAA Hopes Its Shortened Name Makes Financial Planning Seem Simpler
"a financial services brand that's simple, maybe even a little fun"
Yep. 30 years of giggles, and counting! Now if only they'd go back to the low minimum / waived minimum model that might be marketable to the timid and confused audience they're intending to address, I'd be happier.
By way of a backhanded compliment, they have simplified their website a bit. (I'd not seen one more complex than theirs.)
Before, if you had the usual type of accounts (e.g. 403(b), or anything else using the TIAA-CREF annuity structure), and you also had "external" accounts (e.g. a taxable brokerage account), these showed up in different places on their website, and you had to navigate through them differently. Now, all the statements are in one place. An improvement, albeit a small one.
But the company structure is just as complicated as always. Still with the three share classes that charge IRAs the most. Still with a bank that's somewhat off to the side. Still without statements online for aftertax annuities. It took me 4-5 clicks and scrolling down each of the pages to get to the aftertax annuity performance (worse than before, at least because of all the scrolling required).
Still can't find any info about what funds they offer NTF (via their brokerage). There's just one link to Nuveen funds (which they own). It's not under the drop down menu (What We Offer), but at the very bottom of the page (as you scroll down for miles), where you see it under "For Financial Advisors". So you can get these NTF at other brokers but not at TIAA (formerly TIAA-CREF)?
Lipstick on a pig is too kind (and I do think TIAA-CREF is excellent for some purposes)
The problem is that it's still an insurance company which makes it as hard as an ocean liner to turn around quickly. For me, a retiree receiving my RMD payouts every month, it's hard to understand why I get five different direct deposits, from five different "contracts." TIAA has always represented the fixed-income portion of my portfolio, and CREF, the equity. It will be hard to change drop that terminology, at least in my mind. It would take a massive amount of lipstick to beautify this behemoth.
Comments
Yep. 30 years of giggles, and counting! Now if only they'd go back to the low minimum / waived minimum model that might be marketable to the timid and confused audience they're intending to address, I'd be happier.
David
Before, if you had the usual type of accounts (e.g. 403(b), or anything else using the TIAA-CREF annuity structure), and you also had "external" accounts (e.g. a taxable brokerage account), these showed up in different places on their website, and you had to navigate through them differently. Now, all the statements are in one place. An improvement, albeit a small one.
But the company structure is just as complicated as always. Still with the three share classes that charge IRAs the most. Still with a bank that's somewhat off to the side. Still without statements online for aftertax annuities. It took me 4-5 clicks and scrolling down each of the pages to get to the aftertax annuity performance (worse than before, at least because of all the scrolling required).
Still can't find any info about what funds they offer NTF (via their brokerage). There's just one link to Nuveen funds (which they own). It's not under the drop down menu (What We Offer), but at the very bottom of the page (as you scroll down for miles), where you see it under "For Financial Advisors". So you can get these NTF at other brokers but not at TIAA (formerly TIAA-CREF)?
Lipstick on a pig is too kind (and I do think TIAA-CREF is excellent for some purposes)