TIAA-CREF Life Insurance
TIAA-CREF was founded in 1918 to provide retirement funds for professors and the initials of the Company stand for Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund. Before this the pensions for retiring professors had been free and were provided by the Carnegie Corporation. It was Andrew Carnegie who was one of the trustees of Cornell University between the years of 1890 to 1905 who is responsible for first offering pensions for professors. As the funds in the scheme started to dwindle TIAA was created as a stock life insurance company to provide retirement income for professors by deferred annuity contracts. CREF was started in 1952 so that professors could invest in the stock market. The main function of this company was to provide retirement plan through variable annuities or mutual funds. Today the Company has assets of $398 billion and is one of the largest financial services companies in America. It is also ranked at 86 on Fortune's list of 500 largest corporations and its main headquarters are in New York City. It also has headquarters in Colorado, Dallas, Texas as well as Charlotte, North Carolina. The Company provides financial help to 15,000 institutions in medical, academic research as well as 3.6million individuals. The Walkers Stadium is owned by the company and is the home ground for Leicester City football matches. The Company has survived the 1929 stock market crash as well as the Great Depression through good investments. By 2007 it was selected by the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) to be the sole investment provider for its retirement savings programs. On August 12 2008 the Company opened new offices in London to enable local investment professionals to extend the business in the United Kingdom and Europe.
Today TIAA-CREF is a major Life Insurance Company and is only one of 5 to be ranked AAA by Moody's. It offers Variable Life Insurance, Term Life Insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Universal Life Insurance, Group Life Insurance and Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance. For anyone considering taking out Life Insurance the younger you are the better. Someone young will not pay as much in monthly premiums as someone older. This is because an older person is seen by the Insurance provider as at a bigger risk of dying. All Insurance Companies ask applicants to fill in an application form where questions are asked concerning health, occupation, age, family medical history and lifestyle in general. They will then be able to give a quote based on the information they have received. Sometimes it can be difficult trying to decide which type of Life Insurance is the best one and TIAA-CREF help people with their decision by offering good financial advice. TIAA-CREF is a reputable and trustworthy Insurance Company with many years experience. It looks after its customers and with an AAA rating from Moody's will not be beaten.
