What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

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Toadvine
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What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by Toadvine »

The title says it all. I am very curious. 28% of my TOTAL retirement portfolio is TIAA Traditional (mostly liquid but also some non-liquid).

I am 3 years from retirement and I am considering increasing this allocation to 50%. My only concern is the exposure to credit risk.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by livesoft »

About 2%. I haven't worked in 6 years. The proportion in TIAA Trad will keep getting smaller and smaller.

Does this satisfy your curiosity? How does this help you at all? :)
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by Toadvine »

livesoft wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 5:48 pm About 2%. I haven't worked in 6 years. The proportion in TIAA Trad will keep getting smaller and smaller.

Does this satisfy your curiosity? How does this help you at all? :)
Just trying to tap into the wisdom of the crowd!
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by bikechuck »

TIAA Traditional accounts for ~ 20% of my portfolio, half in a liquid SRA and half in an RA, my vintages pay a guaranteed 3.0% but currently yield closer to 3.5%. Through historical accident I also have a fully liquid fixed annuity that pays a guaranteed minimum 4.5% that accounts for another 20%.

I consider both of these to be excellent bond substitutes though I also have some money in Vanguard's total U.S. Bond fund. At times I think that this extra slice should be in short or medium term treasuries instead. For now however I am just standing there rather than doing something with this extra slice.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by beernutz »

A little under 25% of my net worth is with TIAA and about 3% is TIAA Traditional. I plan to annuitize the Traditional when I retire next year.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by SimplicityNow »

I am unsure what wisdom you are seeking.

Are you asking if TIAA traditional is a good fixed income investment? Probably, depending on the crediting rate for your account and any liquidity restrictions.

About 7-8% of our accounts are invested in TIAA traditional. Ours has no restriction on withdrawals and is guaranteed to pay 3%.

We have access to other stable value funds which pay more and less then TIAA. We also have fixed income investments in total bond and cash.

Hope that helps.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by tibbitts »

Toadvine wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 5:43 pm The title says it all. I am very curious. 28% of my TOTAL retirement portfolio is TIAA Traditional (mostly liquid but also some non-liquid).

I am 3 years from retirement and I am considering increasing this allocation to 50%. My only concern is the exposure to credit risk.
So to clarify, you want to know how much Bogleheads are willing to risk on this one investment. But you aren't controlling for age or asset allocation or portfolio size or crediting rate, so you aren't getting any useful information. If you provide your portfolio size, age, asset allocation, and your crediting rate, we can probably tell you what percentage we'd put in Traditional if we were you.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by camillus »

This week I expect to switch my entire fixed income / bond allocation (15% of portfolio) to TRAD in the GSRA variety, which is fully liquid and guaranteed 3%.

My current bond position is within a stable 60:40 ESG fund. I looked in this fund and the highest return in the collection bonds is 2.5%.

One of the issues I am dealing with is that my 403b through TIAA is with a small "R1" institution, which pays higher fees ~50bps per fund (even money market!). So, I hope to essentially get my own money back.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by Toadvine »

tibbitts wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 7:18 pm
Toadvine wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 5:43 pm The title says it all. I am very curious. 28% of my TOTAL retirement portfolio is TIAA Traditional (mostly liquid but also some non-liquid).

I am 3 years from retirement and I am considering increasing this allocation to 50%. My only concern is the exposure to credit risk.
So to clarify, you want to know how much Bogleheads are willing to risk on this one investment. But you aren't controlling for age or asset allocation or portfolio size or crediting rate, so you aren't getting any useful information. If you provide your portfolio size, age, asset allocation, and your crediting rate, we can probably tell you what percentage we'd put in Traditional if we were you.
I am not so much interested in prescriptive advice. I am more interested in actual behavior. What proportion of your portfolio is invested in TIAA Traditional? Providing information on your your rationale for this choice is also appreciated.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by Elric »

About 7%, plus some in TIAA Real Estate. I consider TIAA Traditional to be very safe, and in this interest rate environment, offering a good rate of return for this type of investment, so we're hanging onto it (been retired a few years).
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by student »

About 28%.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by little_star »

Currently: 10%. However, this is determined not by the percentage, but by the absolute amount. I project that my TIAA Traditional, combined with social security, will be sufficient to cover the bare minimum of my expenses at retirement. This provides a secure floor for my retirement; other funds (with higher growth potential, but correspondingly more risk) will also be available to improve quality of life above this minimum floor.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by Toadvine »

little_star wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 10:57 pm Currently: 10%. However, this is determined not by the percentage, but by the absolute amount. I project that my TIAA Traditional, combined with social security, will be sufficient to cover the bare minimum of my expenses at retirement. This provides a secure floor for my retirement; other funds (with higher growth potential, but correspondingly more risk) will also be available to improve quality of life above this minimum floor.
Little_star:
Sounds like you plan to annuities your TIAA Trad upon retirement. I have considered this also. My only apprehension is inflation. Your thoughts on this?
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by 22twain »

Toadvine wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 5:56 pm
livesoft wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 5:48 pm About 2%. I haven't worked in 6 years. The proportion in TIAA Trad will keep getting smaller and smaller.

Does this satisfy your curiosity? How does this help you at all? :)
Just trying to tap into the wisdom of the crowd!
Different people have widely different financial situations and goals. In order to gain wisdom that you can use, it would be more efficient for all of us if you could lay out your complete picture, similarly to the format suggested here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6212

For what little it's probably worth, I have about 25% in Trad, and DW has about 18%. Overall, it's about 21%.

We both worked at the same college for many years, and are now (ages 67 and 72) both retired, after somewhat complicated "downslopes" that I won't bore you with the details of. Taken together, we have a larger amount in CREF Stock. Our TIAA accounts are about half of our total financial assets, which are more than 50x annual expenses (paid-off house, low-cost small town in flyover country).

As of now, we have no plans to annuitize any of our TIAA accounts, because we will easily be able to cover our current expenses from combined Social Security (both starting at age 70) and modest withdrawals from our taxable accounts. DW is currently taking and re-investing RMDs from her TIAA accounts, including Trad. I plan to follow suit in due course. Maybe I'll take my RMDs out of just CREF Stock, and leave the Trad alone, if that's possible.

At some point in the next 10 years or so, we will probably move to a CCRC, which will probably increase our fixed monthly costs significantly. At that time, we will consider annuitizing enough of our TIAA assets to cover monthly fees.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by Economicman »

Currently 17% of my total investments, all earning at least 4.2%. Traditional Guaranteed also comprises 50% of my variable annuity with TIAA. My primary bond holdings are Inflation Index Bond Fund with TIAA and Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Bonds. My balanced funds with TIAA and Vanguard have diverse bond holdings. At age 81, my equities are now down to 32%, all in funds or ETFs.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by Katietsu »

I am interested. Particularly with an explanation. We have over 15%. We also have a sizable chunk in 3% CDs. While we have been contributing for about 20 years, we moved about half into the liquid variety in 2019 and 2020. I would obviously had better performance if the funds moved in 2019 had stayed in the bond fund. So, what do I do now? Should I continue to deplete bond funds for 3% guaranteed?
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by bikechuck »

beernutz wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 6:42 pm A little under 25% of my net worth is with TIAA and about 3% is TIAA Traditional. I plan to annuitize the Traditional when I retire next year.
Have you considered taking interest only payments on your traditional and annuitizing later in life when you will have higher payments from mortality credits and hopefully higher interest rates?
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by beernutz »

bikechuck wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 11:46 am
beernutz wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 6:42 pm A little under 25% of my net worth is with TIAA and about 3% is TIAA Traditional. I plan to annuitize the Traditional when I retire next year.
Have you considered taking interest only payments on your traditional and annuitizing later in life when you will have higher payments from mortality credits and hopefully higher interest rates?
Yes I considered that option but the combination of my joint life pension and the joint life annuitized Traditional is about the same as our yearly expenses and I am a fan of Pfau's Safety First retirement approach.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by little_star »

Toadvine wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:39 am
little_star wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 10:57 pm Currently: 10%. However, this is determined not by the percentage, but by the absolute amount. I project that my TIAA Traditional, combined with social security, will be sufficient to cover the bare minimum of my expenses at retirement. This provides a secure floor for my retirement; other funds (with higher growth potential, but correspondingly more risk) will also be available to improve quality of life above this minimum floor.
Little_star:
Sounds like you plan to annuities your TIAA Trad upon retirement. I have considered this also. My only apprehension is inflation. Your thoughts on this?
I am still a long way off from retirement, so I have not yet made a decision regarding when (or if) to annuitize. I also have significant $$ in CREF funds and taxable mutual funds. As stated, my goal with TIAA Traditional is to have a "floor" that will meet my basic needs (and help me sleep at night now, given my irrational worry about running out of money in the future). I may choose to leave that floor alone and live off the yield from the other funds when I actually do retire.

In terms of inflation, I have run my numbers using only modest growth and high inflation and vice versa. I much prefer the latter, but my most pessimistic version of my finances has me solvent until I am 100 years old. This has very little to do with the percentage I hold in TIAA traditional, however.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by sschullo »

The title says it all. I am very curious. 28% of my TOTAL retirement portfolio is TIAA Traditional (mostly liquid but also some non-liquid).

I am 3 years from retirement and I am considering increasing this allocation to 50%. My only concern is the exposure to credit risk.
[/quote]

14%
(Since 2016, 3.0% annual return, principle protection, and completely liquid). In this low-interest rate environment, this investment is great for this 73-year-old retiree who is risk-averse, excuse me, LOSS averse!).
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by Hector »

What is TIAA Trad?
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by JS-Elcano »

27% with about 70% of it in the liquid version.
This is almost all of my fixed/bond allocation. I am using all the space I have in the liquid version; wish I had more there.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by 22twain »

Hector wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 3:07 pm What is TIAA Trad?
This looks like a good description and summary:

https://www.thebalance.com/the-tiaa-tra ... on-2388559

[added] It discusses only the "illiquid" versions (e.g. RA and GRA contracts) which don't allow withdrawals or transfers-out at will. It doesn't mention the "liquid" versions (e.g. SRA and GSRA contracts) which do. About 1/3 of my Trad is in illiquid versions, and about 2/3 is liquid.

It also doesn't mention that one can take RMDs regardless of which version(s) of Trad. My wife is currently taking her RMDs proportionately from all her TIAA-CREF accounts: liquid Trad, illiquid Trad, and CREF Stock. She has not annuitized any of it, yet.
Last edited by 22twain on Sun Feb 14, 2021 5:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by FishAllDay »

Age = 70, DW is 63. Overall portfolio is 55/45 equities/bond-like.

Bond-like portion is held as:

20% in TIAA Trad GSRA, guaranteed 3.0% paying 3.1%; fully liquid.

7% in Valic/AIG Fixed Account, pays guaranteed 3.0%; takes 5 years to withdraw.
2% in Valic/AIG Fixed Account, pays guaranteed 4.5%; takes 5 years to withdraw.

8% DIPSX DFA TIPS index.
8% VBTIX Vanguard total bond index.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by CloseEnough »

We have roughly 12% of total portfolio in TIAA Trad (liquid, 3%), and about 33% of fixed income. We are maxed out, could not do more, but even if I could I probably would not. While I view it as a relatively safe fixed income alternative, and especially favorable in the current bond market, I value diversification more, when viewing this as part of the principal conservation/lowering volatility part of the overall portfolio. To the OP: I think your approach of asking for what BHs are actually doing, as opposed to advice, is both interesting and wise.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by nisiprius »

At one point it was 22%.

With regard to credit risk, I don't think it is quite as stellar as it once was, but it is still stellar indeed.

TIAA General Account Financial Strength
Image
Those are the A. M. Best and Fitch's highest ratings, but "only" the second-highest Moody's and S&P's ratings, of the seven A-range ratings they give.

(It is disturbing that the same page says "Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America is one of only three insurance groups in the United States to currently hold the highest possible rating from three of the four leading insurance company rating agencies for its stability, claims-paying ability and overall financial strength." That used to be true, but as noted it currently has the highest rating from only two of the four).
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by inepteft »

23% of portfolio. It's always felt like ballast for the broader portfolio. 3.8% average rate mixed across the restricted and unrestricted versions.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by finite_difference »

nisiprius wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 8:55 pm At one point it was 22%.

With regard to credit risk, I don't think it is quite as stellar as it once was, but it is still stellar indeed.

TIAA General Account Financial Strength
Image
Those are the A. M. Best and Fitch's highest ratings, but "only" the second-highest Moody's and S&P's ratings, of the seven A-range ratings they give.

(It is disturbing that the same page says "Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America is one of only three insurance groups in the United States to currently hold the highest possible rating from three of the four leading insurance company rating agencies for its stability, claims-paying ability and overall financial strength." That used to be true, but as noted it currently has the highest rating from only two of the four).
I wonder why they were downgraded?

Are there any insurance groups that are higher rated than TIAA? If not, presumably only instruments backed directly by the Federal government would be considered safer?
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by Hector »

22twain wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 3:27 pm
Hector wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 3:07 pm What is TIAA Trad?
This looks like a good description and summary:

https://www.thebalance.com/the-tiaa-tra ... on-2388559

[added] It discusses only the "illiquid" versions (e.g. RA and GRA contracts) which don't allow withdrawals or transfers-out at will. It doesn't mention the "liquid" versions (e.g. SRA and GSRA contracts) which do. About 1/3 of my Trad is in illiquid versions, and about 2/3 is liquid.

It also doesn't mention that one can take RMDs regardless of which version(s) of Trad. My wife is currently taking her RMDs proportionately from all her TIAA-CREF accounts: liquid Trad, illiquid Trad, and CREF Stock. She has not annuitized any of it, yet.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by RetireSoon »

28%

A question - for those who have a significant % in TIAA Trad, how likely are you to convert this to an annuity when you retire?
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by Admiral Fun »

nisiprius wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 8:55 pm At one point it was 22%.

With regard to credit risk, I don't think it is quite as stellar as it once was, but it is still stellar indeed.

TIAA General Account Financial Strength
Image
Those are the A. M. Best and Fitch's highest ratings, but "only" the second-highest Moody's and S&P's ratings, of the seven A-range ratings they give.

(It is disturbing that the same page says "Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America is one of only three insurance groups in the United States to currently hold the highest possible rating from three of the four leading insurance company rating agencies for its stability, claims-paying ability and overall financial strength." That used to be true, but as noted it currently has the highest rating from only two of the four).
I wonder if the credit rating of TIAA declined because of the 3% guarantee in this low interest environment.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by nisiprius »

RetireSoon wrote: Mon Feb 15, 2021 5:45 pm 28%

A question - for those who have a significant % in TIAA Trad, how likely are you to convert this to an annuity when you retire?
This is just a statement of what I actually did. I converted part of it to a "transfer payout annuity" some years before retirement, and the rest of it to a "lifetime payment plan" with the "graded option" at retirement.

A TIAA transfer payout annuity (TPA) pays out ten annual payments that are approximately equal. (They are not exactly equal because they follow a formula that depends on how much the account has made).

I had bought a long-term-care insurance policy under a "ten-year paid in full" provision.* In all of my considerations of LTCi, I was very concerned with the possibility of letting it lapse. In order to be sure that wouldn't happen, I arranged for the TPA to make payments that were roughly the same as the LTCi annual premiums, and to be paid out about a month before the premiums were do. That is, I dedicated part of my TIAA Traditional portfolio to meeting our LTCi premiums.

I annuitized all the rest of it.

(I liquidated all of my other TIAA "accounts" and used the proceeds to purchase Vanguard funds that were roughly comparable to the TIAA accounts).

*The policy was written by John Hancock. The ten-year plan means that after ten payments are made no further premiums need to be paid; this roughly doubled the annual premium. I don't know if such a provision is still available in long-term-care policies currently be written by John Hancock.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by alec »

RetireSoon wrote: Mon Feb 15, 2021 5:45 pm 28%

A question - for those who have a significant % in TIAA Trad, how likely are you to convert this to an annuity when you retire?
My parents are in their mid to late 70s, and last year annuitized all of their money in the RA version of TIAA, which was about 30% of their portfolio. They still have more in the SRA version of TIAA. They wanted more guaranteed income on top of Social Security.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by ofckrupke »

Toadvine wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 5:43 pm The title says it all. I am very curious.
12% nominal, 11% tax-adjusted.
Half of that is GSRA, closed to further contribution by separation from employer.
One quarter is RA, frozen to further contribution by idiotic employer shift to RC/RCP scheme in late 2017.
One quarter is RC - shifted contributions elsewhere in 2019.

Much earlier on I settled on a ceiling of 20% for Trad owing to single party risk, but we never got close.
Last edited by ofckrupke on Mon Feb 15, 2021 8:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by Gustav »

27% of our total 50/50 portfolio is in a fully-liquid TIAA SRA (3% "guaranteed"), located in a 403b. I consider it part of the 50% fixed income portion of our portfolio. I have no (current) plans to annuitize. Rather, continuing to do Roth conversions from another 403b to reduce RMDs which begin in 4 years.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by ensign »

RetireSoon wrote: Mon Feb 15, 2021 5:45 pm 28%

A question - for those who have a significant % in TIAA Trad, how likely are you to convert this to an annuity when you retire?
Very unlikely. Don’t see any the need.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by bikechuck »

RetireSoon wrote: Mon Feb 15, 2021 5:45 pm 28%

A question - for those who have a significant % in TIAA Trad, how likely are you to convert this to an annuity when you retire?
I retired 3.5 years ago at the age of 64 and have not annuitized. This January I began taking interest only payments in part to stop the slow relentless growth as my balance exceeds my state's insurance limits for annuities.

I will consider annuitizing when I am in my mid to late 70s depending on how well my portfolio, my health and my wife's health are holding up at that time. By then my payments should be higher due to additional mortality credits and possibly higher interest rates.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by rr2 »

Close to 30%. TIAA Trad comprises our entire fixed income/bond allocation. Still working.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by Toadvine »

rr2 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 4:04 pm Close to 30%. TIAA Trad comprises our entire fixed income/bond allocation. Still working.
rr2:
You are the only respondent with a higher % than me. Do you have any concerns about credit risk given that you so much at TIAA?
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by abuss368 »

Zero!

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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by Northster »

I'm retired and at 10% TIAA Trad. I take the income as an RMD rather than annuity since that seems to me the better value,
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by crit »

Currently 11%. Still in accumulation phase, so this % might change depending on access.
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by rr2 »

Toadvine wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 6:48 pm
rr2 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 4:04 pm Close to 30%. TIAA Trad comprises our entire fixed income/bond allocation. Still working.
rr2:
You are the only respondent with a higher % than me. Do you have any concerns about credit risk given that you so much at TIAA?
I have not thought about this at all. When I get closer to retirement, I will devote some more attention. I cannot imagine that it will all just evaporate overnight. I do expect that changes may be made at least to the liquid forms of TRAD much like the IRAs. For now my liquid TRAD inside my 403b still give at least 3%.

Edit to add: It is my contributions that are at 60% CREF Stock, 30% TIAA Trad, 10% TIAA Re. Due to market fluctuations, it is likely that the current allocation is different. I have not rebalanced in a long while.

2nd edit: I finally summoned up the inertia to actually go and look. Our complete AA across all accounts is currently 67/25/8.
Last edited by rr2 on Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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cheese_breath
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by cheese_breath »

rr2 wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:00 pm ... I do expect that changes may be made at least to the liquid forms of TRAD much like the IRAs. For now my liquid TRAD inside my 403b still give at least 3%.
TIAA closed the IRA 3% guaranteed Traditional in August 2013. IRA Traditional contributions since then only have 1% guarantee. Did you have other changes in mind?
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
rr2
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by rr2 »

cheese_breath wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:13 pm
rr2 wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:00 pm ... I do expect that changes may be made at least to the liquid forms of TRAD much like the IRAs. For now my liquid TRAD inside my 403b still give at least 3%.
TIAA closed the IRA 3% guaranteed Traditional in August 2013. IRA Traditional contributions since then only have 1% guarantee. Did you have other changes in mind?
Indeed, I have stopped contributing to TRAD inside my IRAs since then. I would guess that similar to the changes made to the IRA contributions, TIAA may remove the 3% guarantee for the liquid form in other non IRA accounts.
bikebob
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Re: What % of your TOTAL portfolio is in TIAA Trad?

Post by bikebob »

My partner and I (both 60) came from childhoods of financial insecurity and are very much on the conservative/security-oriented side, especially for our ages. We are both about 45% in TIAA Trad, with nearly all of that in RAs (illiquid) with a 3% guarantee (but actually accumulating at closer to 4%/year thanks to some older vintages).

My other 55% is about half stocks and half bonds. The stocks are all low-carbon/ESG funds, on the growth-oriented side to help with inflation. The bonds are split between a TIAA ESG bond fund and a TIPS fund.

I'm retired from full-time work but expect to be part-time consulting through my 60s. Around age 65, I'm planning to either start interest-only payments on my TIAA Trad or annuitize it (with graded payouts, for a small inflation hedge). We have no heirs, so the security of eventual annuitization is appealing, especially as an LTC fallback. I'll also gradually withdraw from bonds between 65 and 70 to force a rising equity glide path. Then, at 70, we will both have fairly large SS payments to help with inflation.

I'm quite comfortable with the long-term outlook for TIAA. Nothing is truly guaranteed, of course, but if TIAA did somehow get into massive trouble, I imagine that other types of investments could be on the rocks as well.
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