No: TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services (TC Services), the TIAA company that offers financial planning and managed accounts to individuals, is a broker-dealer and an investment adviser in one firm, and it is paid through TIAA’s own funds and annuities, brokerage commissions, referral fees and cash sweep revenue as well as advisory fees. That comes from its own Form CRS (as of January 1, 2026). Its main managed account, Portfolio Advisor, costs $8,925 a year on $1 million, before fund expenses.
Fee-only means the client is the only one paying: no commissions and no other payments tied to the products you’re advised to buy, to the firm or its related companies. TIAA’s group sells annuities and manages mutual funds, and TC Services’ filings describe how its advice connects to both.
How TIAA is paid
TC Services (CRD 20472) is a dual registrant: its advice arm is called Advice & Planning Services, and its brokerage arm TIAA Brokerage Services. Its Form ADV Part 1, filed July 6, 2026, checks “broker-dealer” under other business activities (Item 6A). Under compensation (Item 5E) it reports a percentage of assets and “compensation from affiliates”; commissions aren’t checked there, because they’re earned on the brokerage side. Item 7A lists related broker-dealers, investment advisers, a bank, insurance companies and sponsors of pooled investment funds.
The Form CRS says TC Services and its affiliates benefit when:
- You invest in “TIAA-affiliated mutual funds, annuities, ETFs, CITs and certain third-party bank deposits,” which “result in higher compensation” than outside products
- You hold outside funds, annuities or variable life policies that pay TC Services or its affiliates
- Its platforms offer fund share classes that pay “administrative, distribution and/or service fees,” even when a lower-cost share class is available
- Uninvested cash goes to sweep options that pay it more; it “receives a portion of the yield paid by third-parties”
- You move or annuitize assets at TIAA on its recommendation
It also receives referral fees, including from a third-party agency for life and long-term care insurance, and brokerage commissions on brokerage accounts. TC Services is a distributor for TIAA’s own mutual funds and variable annuities.
On the people: “Our financial professionals are paid a salary plus bonuses. The bonus is primarily based on gathering and in some cases retaining client assets at TIAA.”
What the advisory programs charge and earn
Financial planning carries no fee. The CRS says it doesn’t include investment recommendations or monitoring; if you then open an account or buy a product TIAA recommends, you pay that product’s fees.
Portfolio Advisor is a wrap fee managed account with a $25,000 minimum. Its brochure says TIAA’s own funds “are included in substantially all of the Program’s model portfolios,” and that this means “two levels of fees”: the program fee plus what TIAA affiliates earn from the funds. For IRAs and workplace plan accounts (not taxable accounts), TIAA credits back affiliated fund fees. You can also choose advice sourced from an outside firm, whose portfolios hold no TIAA funds.
TIAA Personal Portfolio is a lower-cost digital managed account with a $5,000 minimum, which also uses TIAA’s own funds in many of its portfolios.
Private Asset Management has a dedicated portfolio manager and is generally meant for $1 million or more.
A regulator’s order. On July 13, 2021, the SEC found that from January 1, 2013 through March 30, 2018, TC Services paid its Wealth Management Advisors more for rolling clients’ retirement plan assets into Portfolio Advisor than into some alternatives, and that the firm and its advisors told some clients the advice was “objective” and “non-commissioned.” Without admitting or denying the findings, TC Services was censured and paid $97 million, including a $9 million penalty. Its brochures list other regulatory actions, and its Form CRS answers “Yes” to disciplinary history.
What TIAA costs
Published program fees, from TC Services’ March 31, 2026 brochures:
| Program | Minimum | Yearly fee |
|---|---|---|
| TIAA Personal Portfolio | $5,000 | 0.30% |
| Portfolio Advisor | $25,000 | 1.15% on the first $150,000, falling to 0.40% above $5 million |
| Private Asset Management (blended) | None stated; generally $1 million | 0.90% on the first $1 million, falling to 0.40% above $5 million |
| Financial planning | None | No fee |
Portfolio Advisor’s full blended schedule is 1.15% on the first $150,000, 1.00% to $300,000, 0.85% to $750,000, 0.75% to $1 million, 0.70% to $1.5 million and 0.65% to $3 million, each on that slice only. Fund expenses are extra in every program.
Worked out on those schedules, before fund expenses:
- $500,000: Personal Portfolio $1,500, Portfolio Advisor $4,925.
- $1 million: Personal Portfolio $3,000, Portfolio Advisor $8,925, Private Asset Management $9,000.
Fee-only firms that publish prices charge a median 1% of assets, or a median flat $4,500 a year for ongoing planning (middle half $2,400 to $7,200). A one-time plan has a median of $2,000. Portfolio Advisor costs a little less than the median percentage fee, but TIAA affiliates can also earn from the funds inside it, which a fee-only firm’s clients don’t pay.
Who TIAA may suit
- People who already hold TIAA annuities or workplace retirement plans and want help from the firm that runs them, including on turning annuities into lifetime income.
- People who want a free planning conversation before deciding anything, as long as they keep in mind how the advisors are paid.
- Small investors who want a low-cost managed account (Personal Portfolio, from $5,000).
It fits less well if you want advice on whether to keep money in TIAA products from someone who earns nothing either way. Our guides on financial advisors for teachers and federal employees, 401(k) rollovers when changing jobs and whether to keep an annuity cover those decisions.
How to check it yourself
- Read TC Services’ Form CRS on the SEC’s adviser search or at tiaa.org/relationshipdisclosures, and the brochure for any program you’re offered.
- Check Form ADV Part 1: Item 5E for pay, Item 6A for brokerage, Item 7A for related banks, insurers and fund companies. Our guide to telling whether an advisor is fee-only walks through each.
- Look up TC Services and the person you’d work with on BrokerCheck to see their registrations and history.
- Ask in writing: “How are you paid if I roll my plan into Portfolio Advisor, and how if I leave it where it is?” and “How much of this portfolio is in TIAA funds?” More in our questions to ask a financial advisor.
For the wider picture, see RIA vs broker-dealer, fiduciary vs suitability, insurance agent vs financial advisor and is Fidelity fee-only.
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