Are you overwhelmed by the choices and information available about your TIAA retirement plan? You’re not alone. Think about taking baby steps towards educating yourself. Make a commitment each month to learn one new thing you didn’t know before about your retirement plan. And try out a different resource to get that information each month. You may find one that really works for you and helps you understand your retirement plan and its importance and value to you better.

You don’t know where to start? Try this www.tiaa.org/sdsurf and see where it leads you.

• There is a variety of investment choices and target date funds currently available to you.
  Learn about one each month.
  Focus on:
  Rates for return: current, over a 3 - 5 - 10 year period, and since inception;
  Expense charges;
  Asset classes; and
  Does it invest in foreign markets or only domestic stocks?
• Diversification: What does it mean? How do you achieve it?
• Income options available to you when you retire. Get the list, and start asking questions.
  Who would select this option?
  What would their life circumstances be like?
  What’s a single life annuity?
  What does it mean if I select a second annuitant, versus a beneficiary?
  How much will I need when I retire?

How to Access Information About Your Retirement Plan

You have so many resources available to you to learn about your TIAA retirement plan. In addition to social network sites like Facebook and Twitter, here is a brief list of where you can go for more information:

• iPhone App: Savings Simplifier
• TIAA en español
• www.myretirement.org
• Schedule a private, face to face appointment with a TIAA representative at SDSU Research Foundation. See schedule and sign up for an appointment now.
• Don’t work on campus? To schedule a face to face appointment with a TIAA representative call 800-732-8353.
• Webinars on the following topics: Halfway There: A Retirement Checkup, Money at Work 1: Foundations of Investing, Within Reach: Transitioning from Career to Retirement.
• Calculators
• Spend an hour a month reviewing information and reading important articles about retirement planning that are available to you on TIAA’s website at www.tiaa.org.
• Call the Telephone Counseling Center (at 800-842-2252), up to 7pm during the week and even on Saturdays
• Ask for independent investment advice by calling 800-842-2888.

If you need help getting started, feel free to contact SDSU Research Foundation's Human Resources and ask to speak to a benefits specialist, sdsurfbenefits@foundation.sdsu.edu, or call 619-594-4139.

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