TIAA-CREF tax issue and contact issue

Yes that's a similar payout rate quote to what I got from TIAA-CREF about 6 months ago. The extra couple of percent over market annuity rates is for long term clients. It's a very good deal for an annuity. If I move back to the UK I'll probably just turn my TIAA Traditional into an annuity rather than doing the 10 year payout annuity as a few thousand a year guaranteed income for life is easier to deal with wrt paperwork and taxes.

The plot thickens! I should have known not to get complacent.

I noticed in the lifetime annuity illustration a table at the end that shows lifetime annuity pay out rates based on vintage of the contributions. All of my contributions to TIAA Trad were made between 1996 and 1999. Payout rate for pre-2006 shows at 10.7%, but my quote is at a rate of 9.3%.

It probably took 5 minutes for me to explain why I was concerned that the quote did not match the payout rate in the table. I was told that maybe contributions were made after 2006 (no; I stopped working for that university in 1999, and stopped working for any US-based, TIAA-CREF university in 2006 (anyway, all of my TIAA Trad is held with the 1996-1999 university as I have liquidated all holdings with the other university).

Eventually, I was told that only (approx.) one-third of my holdings were paid into TIAA Trad before 2006 and the remaining TIAA Trad contributions were paid in during the 2006-2011 and 2012-2017 periods. Their records show these were employer contributions - but my employer stopped making contributions in 1999!

The only reason I can think that they might show this would be if I had rolled over amounts from my other investments into TIAA Trad after I left the US - but I would not have done this purely because I'd have been locking in investments that I intended to start liquidating in 2017. It makes no sense!

I've contacted the university to ask them to confirm the facts for TIAA (I left them in 1999 and they haven't paid any contributions since then). I wouldn't make a fuss, but there's a decent difference between 9.3% and 10.7% ....

TIAA interest and payout rates are notoriously opaque given the "vintages" and the differences between contracts. My contributions were made in the late 80s and early 90s and I'm now in my early 60s and got a single life with 10 year guarantee with the same payout rate as you and that included a 2% loyalty bonus. That bonus means that the TIAA payout rate is about 25% higher that the general annuity market rates. The 10.7% rate you saw might have included some particular circumstances and I assume today's payout rates will factor in current interest rates as well.