This fall, Penn State made several changes to the retirement plans including enhanced investment options and services for University employees. Employees who are interested should consider the following steps:
-- Schedule an on-site, one-on-one investment planning session: To ensure contributions and investment choices are in line with retirement savings goals, schedule a one-on-one investment advice session with a TIAA-CREF counselor. During the session, a financial consultant will help to create a personalized retirement portfolio. To schedule a session, call TIAA-CREF at 800-732-8353, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. from Monday through Friday. This service is available at no additional cost.
-- Consolidate retirement assets: Employees interested in simplifying their investment planning can consider consolidating the retirement assets they may have with other investment providers into a Penn State Supplemental retirement plan; consolidating holdings can make money management easier. Also, through the Penn State Retirement Plans employees will have access to a unique investment advice service that’s available at no additional charge through TIAA-CREF. Please call TIAA-CREF at 800-842-2252 from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.
-- Participate in a supplemental retirement plan with Penn State to maximize retirement savings: The Penn State supplemental retirement plans are available to all Penn State employees, whether they participate in the SERS retirement program or the TIAA-CREF retirement program, to help them take charge of their own retirement savings. These plans are designed to maximize retirement savings during an employee's time at Penn State. To learn more, employees can schedule a one-on-one counseling session with a TIAA-CREF counselor by calling 800-732-8353, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. This service is available at no additional cost.
-- Visit the custom Penn State retirement website at http://www.tiaa-cref.org/psu online: Take advantage of the new personalized plan website for Penn State retirement plan participants. Employees can use this website to learn more about new investment options, make allocation changes and account transfers, and access a variety of investment planning tools. Employees can:
-- Access account information, 24/7;
-- Transfer funds, change allocations, open a new account;
-- Use interactive retirement planning tools and calculators;
-- View financial education seminars on a variety of retirement and investment topics;
-- Follow market news and headlines;
-- Obtain online enrollment and Salary Deferral Agreements; and
-- View a consolidated quarterly statement that provides an overview of all account activity for Penn State Retirement Plans.
Finally, employees can watch a presentation explaining the recent changes to the Penn State Retirement Plans at https://www.brainshark.com/tiaa-cref_direct/PENNSTATE online.