TIAA-CREF vs Fidelity

[proman]

I have to sign up for one or the other. In residency, I had a very small account with TIAA-CREF. They seem fine but I have no experience with Fidelity. Since this is for my primary retirement account, I'd like to hear people's opinions of the two. I don't know what funds will be available to me at the moment. Thanks.

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[touchadream]

I have to sign up for one or the other. In residency, I had a very small account with TIAA-CREF. They seem fine but I have no experience with Fidelity. Since this is for my primary retirement account, I'd like to hear people's opinions of the two. I don't know what funds will be available to me at the moment. Thanks.

I have had extensive experience with both for 20 years so so. I found Fidelity a lot more user friendly, but your choice of funds and how you allocate them will make the difference in the outcome. Since you are not talking about a lot of money during fellowship, you should just decide whether you are going to read through and make decisions about the different fund choices, and if so, go with the one with more options for you. Both are strong institutions with good reputations. Since you will probably be getting their institutional level fund families in a 403(b) I would just ask about how often you can change fund allocations, how hard it is--TIAA-CREF was more time-consuming for me, but that was early computer days, I guess! Will you also have a 401(a) or 457 plan?

 

[blanche]

i've had both, and have been happy with both. can you see what your fund options are? that may help (ie, if you know you are going to elect for index funds or a life cycle fund, compare the expense ratios/make sure are similar..over time those differences can eat away at your returns; none are as good as Vanguard, but I think both Fido and TIAA-CREFF are pretty good in gen..)

also, is this a permanent position or a fellowship? i know Fidelity charges a fee (maybe ?$75 or $100) to close your acct if you need to roll it over next year to another place. not a huge deal, but just to be aware..

 

[proman]

Thanks for the replies. This is for July, attending position so the amounts are substantial. I'll try to find out what funds are open.
This is for a mandatory retirement plan. I have to chose between a defined benefit (pension) or defined contribution. This question is for a defined contribution account. I'll have the employer contribute 7.25% of my salary to this account.

In addition, I can contribute to a supplemental retirement plan with a pre-tax $16,500 to a 457(b) plan, and another $16,500 to a 401(k) and/or 403(b).

The 401(k) is through Nationwide Retirement Solutions (never heard of them), the 403(b) and 457(b) are through Nationwide, Fidelity and TIAA-CREF.

I definitely need more info from the employer.

 

[Bobblehead]

Last time I checked the expense ratios for Fidelity are better (lower) than TIAA. They also offer more choices on how you choose to slice and dice your portfolio (which may not be a good thing depending on how you do it). Also, Fidelity has other products such as their Smartcash account which you could enable you to keep the majority of your banking/investing in one location. Adding taxable accounts in the same firm makes it easier to keep an eye on the entire pot and will also cut down on your paperwork.

 

[southerndoc]

Probably a better place to ask this is bogleheads.org. You're likely to get a more informative response from them since they are very hardcore about expense ratios.

 

[touchadream]

Thanks for the replies. This is for July, attending position so the amounts are substantial. I'll try to find out what funds are open.
This is for a mandatory retirement plan. I have to chose between a defined benefit (pension) or defined contribution. This question is for a defined contribution account. I'll have the employer contribute 7.25% of my salary to this account.

In addition, I can contribute to a supplemental retirement plan with a pre-tax $16,500 to a 457(b) plan, and another $16,500 to a 401(k) and/or 403(b).

The 401(k) is through Nationwide Retirement Solutions (never heard of them), the 403(b) and 457(b) are through Nationwide, Fidelity and TIAA-CREF.

I definitely need more info from the employer.

Somebody sold this to your University and who ever that is should be available to answer all of your questions. You should be very persistent about finding out everything you want to know. They will offer you, for example, a "Summary Plan Description" of your retirement plan documents, but you should have a copy of the Entire Plan so you can ask intelligent questions about it. The HR department is going to have more general info, and the financial firm who sold the Hancock products to the U should help you, and you should insist on going to someone who has answers you need, who can tell you exactly what you want to know, about all fees, about fees inside funds they use, manager change history on each fund, etc. They are getting paid a lot, and bottom line, they work for you, since they charge you, so don't be shy in asking. Ask until you understand, no questions are dumb, this is not easy to understand...usually the supplemental plan with a Univ position is a 401(a), the 403(b) is the gov/university version of a 401(k). Ask the Fidelity guy to compare the Nationwide Plan, and the Nationwide guy to compare the Fidelity Plan. That is how you will figure this out...