Retirement

For generations, Allegheny College has partnered with TIAA for our retirement plan. Allegheny College recognizes the importance of providing you with a retirement plan to help you prepare for your financial future.

TIAA offers guidance, webinars, personal virtual meetings, and scheduled on-campus meetings to ensure that the needs our participating staff and faculty are meet and exceeded.

Please reference this page to support and guide you through TIAA’s offerings.

Participation Guidelines

Regular full- and part-time employees who work at least 1,000 hours per year are eligible to participate in the Section 403(b) retirement program administered by Teachers Insurance Annuity Association-College Retirement Equity Fund (TIAA-CREF). The following categories of persons employed by the College are not eligible to participate in the Retirement Plan regardless of whether or not they are credited with 1,000 or more hours of service: (a) adjunct faculty members; (b) interns; (c) temporary employees; (d) leased employees; (e) student workers; (f) union employees whose employment is governed by a collective bargaining agreement under which retirement benefits were the subject of good faith bargaining; or (g) independent contractors.

    • Plan is voluntary
    • Employee contributions can be made on a pre-tax or Roth basis
    • Vesting in the plan is immediate
    • Matching contributions – eligible employees must contribute a percentage of their salaries in order to participate in the Retirement Annuity (RA) plan.  The college will match dollar for dollar up to a maximum of 6% of an employee’s base salary contribution.

Effective Date: An eligible employee may begin participation in the plan on the first of the month following completion of one year of full-time employment as defined by the IRS. If previously employed as a full-time benefit-eligible employee at an institution of higher education for one year immediately preceding employment at Allegheny College, participation can begin immediately; Verification of Employment for Participation must be turned into HR.
Carrier: TIAA-CREF

For personal security purposes, TIAA no longer permits the download and distribution of their forms for anyone other than the participant logged into their website.


Enroll or Make/Change Contributions

As previously announced and in partnership with TIAA, Allegheny has added enhancements to Self-Service in order streamline the process for making contributions to the retirement account, or the Defined Contribution Plan.

To access the enhanced options:

  1. Sign in to the Allegheny College benefits portal by visiting Self-Service.
  2. Select EMPLOYEE. At the top, select EMPLOYEE. Scroll down and select ‘TIAA’. This will take you to your TIAA account home page.
  3. Click on the ‘Account‘ tab and find the following features now available:
    • Online salary deferral: you can enroll in the plan or change your contributions online. You can update the percentage for your contributions and choose the date to make your change effective.
    • Automatic contributions increase: you can set up self-directed automatic increases for your contributions to help build your savings faster. Select “Change your contributions,” choose the percentage of the increase, and select when you would like to start and stop the automatic increase.

Don’t have an online account? Getting set up is easy.

  1. Sign in to the Allegheny College benefits portal by visiting Self-Service.
  2. Scroll down and select ‘TIAA’. This will take you to your TIAA account home page.
  3. Click on ‘Login’ at the top right-hand corner of the page and then click ’Need online access


Webinars

TIAA Q1 2025 Monthly Summary

  • January Monthly Webinars
    • 01/08 – Quarterly economic and market update
    • 01/15 – Investing essentials: 5 principles to invest with confidence
    • 01/30 – Take control of your financial life: 5 steps to save money and manage debt
  • February Monthly Webinars
    • 02/12 – Retirement planning across generations and demographics: Navigating the big decisions
    • 02/27 – Family wealth education
  • March Monthly Webinars
    • 03/12 – Charting your course: A woman’s financial guide
    • 03/27 – Tax planning opportunities

TIAA On-Demand Webinar Library

Click to Register!


Essentials by TIAA

TIAA has reimaged financial education to empower you with practical insights for confident planning!

  • Financial Essentials: Foundational financial education
  • Life Essentials: Financial moments that matter in your life, your career, and your retirement
  • Your Plan Essentials: Valuable information on investment solutions and services that are included in your plan

Additional Resources:


Campus Visits

  • TIAA Campus Visits – To be announced!

Notices