New Options for SUNY ORP at TIAA

Starting July 23, 2024, TIAA is offering a new lifecycle fund program and an investment option for the SUNY Optional Retirement Program.

SUNY Targeted Allocation Retirement Series (STARS)

The STARS program is a hands-free approach that utilizes a combination of investment options to arrive at an allocation based on the participant’s projected retirement date. STARS has replaced the TIAA Access Nuveen Lifecycle variable annuities as the default investment option in the plan. Shown below are a few graphs that show the breakdown of the underlying investments and stock/bond mix based on the age brackets created by STARS:

Younger investors are encouraged to take on more risk with higher stock allocations, as they have a longer time horizon before retirement. Investors approaching retirement or those who have already retired have a higher percentage of bonds.. This gradual shift from bonds to stocks across birth years is a common approach for default investment options in employer retirement plans.

How to modify STARS or opt-out

Participants have the ability to opt-in or -out of the STARS program at any point in time. If you opt-out of STARS, you will need to select your investments on your own.

Contact your Rockbridge advisor if you need any advice on your TIAA allocation or if you have any questions regarding these changes.