Any experiences with TIAA-CREF as a UK resident?

I have a very old account with TIAA-CREF and they tell me that they are ok with existing account owners being overseas, but won't let them buy funds or open new accounts. Such assurances are often lacking when they hit reality so I thought I'd ask if anyone had any actual experiences of accessing TIAA-CREF from the UK. I have "annuity" type accounts that are not easily transferred to an IRA so it might be easiest just to start paying out while I'm still in the US and then I would just have to deal with income tax.

No experience but Vanguard has similar rules in that overseas persons cannot open accounts but can manage existing accounts including buying and selling within accounts and making distributions, which I have done. One rule Vanguard has, which is probably an IRS one, is that they have to withhold 30% tax when making distributions to someone who lives overseas.

No experience but Vanguard has similar rules in that overseas persons cannot open accounts but can manage existing accounts including buying and selling within accounts and making distributions, which I have done. One rule Vanguard has, which is probably an IRS one, is that they have to withhold 30% tax when making distributions to someone who lives overseas.

Well 30% withholding on taxable accounts but presumably not on ROTHs...I also realize that I didn't roll everything over to Vanguard because some retirement accounts are from Government work and they will be taxed under different treaty Articles from my 401k/IRAs, even if the tax result ends up the same because of my dual citizenship.- I'd forgotten that until I started thinking about why I hadn't consolidated everything.

Well 30% withholding on taxable accounts but presumably not on ROTHs...I also realize that I didn't roll everything over to Vanguard because some retirement accounts are from Government work and they will be taxed under different treaty Articles from my 401k/IRAs, even if the tax result ends up the same because of my dual citizenship.- I'd forgotten that until I started thinking about why I hadn't consolidated everything.

Unfortunately that includes Roths. I had a lot of back and forth with Vanguard and they insisted that the IRS rule applies to all IRAs including Roth IRAs. What I did in the end was use my daughter’s forwarding US address service for the Roth account and that seems to work. You get it back as a refund  when you file but I don’t want them to have it in the first place. TIAA-CREF may interpret the rule differently so I would ask ahead of time.

Unfortunately that includes Roths. I had a lot of back and forth with Vanguard and they insisted that the IRS rule applies to all IRAs including Roth IRAs. What I did in the end was use my daughter’s forwarding US address service for the Roth account and that seems to work. You get it back as a refund  when you file but I don’t want them to have it in the first place. TIAA-CREF may interpret the rule differently so I would ask ahead of time.

I think strictly Vanguard are wrong about the ROTH if you have a SSN and live in the UK as ROTHs are tax free to UK residents, but sometimes it's just too much work arguing with fools.

I think strictly Vanguard are wrong about the ROTH if you have a SSN and live in the UK as ROTHs are tax free to UK residents, but sometimes it's just too much work arguing with fools.

I fully agree with you, and I had 2 email discussions with 2 different advisors. It wasn’t a problem for me as I simply cancelled my planned and scheduled quarterly tax payments. I now have no quarterly tax payments but also have no Roth withholdings since I changed the correspondence address to a US address. When you look at my account on Vanguard it has a street address in England and a correspondence address in the USA. The wording on the website is clear that the street address is where I reside but if I have a US correspondence address then no withholding.

When we first moved back the street and correspondence were also UK and USA (our daughter’s address in California) but a copy of the 1099-DIV from the taxable account went to the California department of revenue who came after us for California taxes and I had to send in proof, including a copy of our federal return, that we not resident in California and that Vanguard was not a California based company.

When you get back and start filing tax returns with HMRC you are going to find it SO MUCH easier and a lot less hassle than the IRS and State returns. I still have to file and pay taxes to Louisiana because I have an unqualified pension (a SERPS) paid and reported on a W-2. The IRS insists on FICA taxes, and Louisiana insist on a non-resident return and taxes because the company paying the SERPS is registered in Louisiana. I haven’t set foot in Louisiana since retiring in 2010.

Yes I am a TIAA customer based in the UK, and I have been able to manage my account from here using their web site (login is two-factor authentication with security code coming to my UK mobile).

I believe you are right in that they won't let you open a new account; trading is also limited to among funds I already have (or what's available within the employer scheme, if that's what you have). I also remember them letting me do a one-time restructuring of my retirement portfolio upon my move, but I can't quite recall if I did that before or after physically moving to UK.