QUESTIONS?
For account information
or any questions:
Call 800 842-2776
Monday — Friday
8 a.m. — 10 p.m. (ET)
Saturday
9 a.m. — 6 p.m. (ET)
Or visit us online at
tiaa-cref.org 24 hours a day.
Have your user ID and
password ready.
HELPFUL HINT:
To complete this
process faster just go to
tiaa-cref.org. You’ll need
your user ID and password.
Note: You cannot designate
beneficiaries online if
you name an irrevocable
beneficiary.
DESIGNATING YOUR BENEFICIARIES
TA MB
F1387 (07/08)
WHEN DO I USE THIS FORM?
Use this form to tell us who you want to be the beneficiary of the balances in your TIAA-CREF
accounts. You can change your beneficiaries at any time by completing this form.
A beneficiary can be an individual, an institution, a trust, or your estate. (Naming an estate can
limit the options available to your heirs. Please call us before choosing this option.) Beneficiaries
can also be the children of the beneficiaries that you list on this form. You can choose primary
beneficiaries and contingent beneficiaries. Your primary beneficiaries receive benefits when you
die. If no primary beneficiary is living, the benefits become payable to your contingent beneficiaries.
If none of the beneficiaries are living at the time of your death, the benefits go to your estate.
YOUR CHECKLIST
Provide all the personal information requested and choose your beneficiaries.
Remember to sign and date this form in Section 4.
Complete the “Additional Requirements Based on Marital Status” section. If you are single,
complete section 5A; if you are married and have not designated your spouse as a primary
beneficiary of at least 50% of the benefit, or the percentage required by your plan, your
spouse must complete Section 5B in front of a notary public or your contributing employer’s
plan representative. NOTE: Under federal law, if you are under age 35, you cannot complete a
Spousal Waiver (Section 5B) unless your plan provides otherwise. Even if your plan does allow
you to complete a Spousal Waiver, you must complete another Spousal Waiver once you
reach age 35. We will notify you at that time.
If applicable, attach a signed and dated page to list special provisions for passing on benefits
to children of a deceased beneficiary. Label the provision “Payment to children of a deceased
beneficiary” and specify if it applies to a primary or contingent beneficiary.
If it applies to a primary beneficiary:
If your primary beneficiary is also deceased at your death, the benefits will instead be paid
to his or her children. Your contingent beneficiaries would receive benefits only if your
primary beneficiary and his or her children have also died.
If it applies to a contingent beneficiary:
If your primary beneficiary is not living at your death, benefits will be payable to your
contingent beneficiaries. If a contingent beneficiary of yours is also deceased at the time
of your death, this individual’s children would share those benefits equally.
Mail all pages of your completed form to: TIAA-CREF, P.O. Box 1259, Charlotte, NC 28201.
(Sorry, we can’t accept faxed forms.)
KEY INFORMATION TO CONSIDER
■
You can use this form to name beneficiaries for funds in TIAA-CREF retirement accounts.
These include: Group Retirement Annuities, Group Supplemental Retirement Annuities,
Individual Retirement Annuities, Keogh Annuities, Minimum Distribution Option, Qualified
Voluntary Employee Contribution (QVEC), Retirement Annuities, Retirement Choice,
Retirement Choice Plus, Savings and Investment Plan Annuities, Supplemental Retirement
Annuities, and Transfer Payout Annuities.
For all other types of contracts not listed here, call us at 800 842-2776 for the correct beneficiary
designation forms.