TIAA Investing Review
Highlights:
- TIAA provides investment options via both managed and regular brokerage accounts.
- Its trading software is quite basic.
- There are banking services at TIAA (they can be expensive).
TIAA has many services for financial planning, managing cash, and investing. However, there are some shortcomings, so be sure to check this review before opening an account.
TIAA Trading and Investing
Through its brokerage and investment-advisor branches, TIAA lets customers invest in these products:
- Mutual funds
- Exchange traded funds
- Closed end funds
- Stocks priced above $1
- Bonds and other fixed-income products (like CDs)
- Options
- Annuities
It’s straightforward to open a brokerage account online in a few minutes, but an advisory account needs a visit to a local branch. Managed accounts include financial planning and investment advice, which is handy if you want help. A former robo program has been discontinued.
You can open either a brokerage or advisory account under several registrations and tax arrangements. Choices include custodial, estate, joint, individual, trust, retirement, and others.
Banking
TIAA once owned TIAA Bank. This has been rebranded EverBank (TIAA holds under 10% of its stock). TIAA clients can’t link investment accounts to bank accounts anymore.
Investment accounts use an FDIC sweep that moves idle cash into partner banks, protecting balances under government rules. One of those banks is EverBank.
There is an interest rate on uninvested cash. Some advisory accounts can earn up to 4.01% APY
now. A standard self-directed brokerage account currently yields 0.6% APY.
A TIAA brokerage account with at least $10,000 and a yearly fee can add checks, bill pay, and a debit card. This setup transforms it into a Cash Solutions Account.
Custodial accounts don’t qualify for the debit card. IRAs can enroll in something named Resource Checking, which provides a checkbook.
Fees and Minimums
TIAA’s services come with some charges and minimums, which can be fairly high. For example, adding checks and a debit card to a brokerage account is $95 per year. Choosing a platinum card ups this cost to $145 a year.
Advisory accounts carry annual fees of 1.15% to 0.60%, which is pretty good.
But note a $50,000 minimum, or $25,000 for TIAA employees.
Brokerage accounts don’t have minimums, and most commissions are waived. Online transactions for stocks, options, and ETFs are fee-free. Placing an order by phone is $55 plus $2.50 per options contract.
Auctioned Treasuries cost $50, a steep amount. In secondary trading, the fee is $1 for each $1,000 in face value, with a $50 minimum. Some mutual fund trades are $50 each; that amount lowers to $35 for clients who get financial planning.
Mobile App
TIAA’s primary software tool is its mobile app. It works on both Apple and Android phones and tablets, showing a simple interface without fancy extras. For instance, there’s no mobile check deposit feature.
The app does include watchlists, and you can tap on an item to access its page. However, stock profiles lack details. You can see basics like 52-week low and P/E ratio. Charts have no functionality, and there’s no landscape mode.
Tapping the blue trade button opens an order window with four order types: market, limit, stop, and stop limit. There are four time-in-force choices: day, 90 days, fill or kill, or immediate or cancel.
The app also has a document upload option, which may be helpful one day. To find it, tap Profile in the bottom menu, then the folder icon in the top-right corner.
Website
Switching to TIAA’s website, things get a bit better. Now, charts do contain tools, like indicators, corporate events, and comparisons. You can pick from five chart styles, changing them easily.
You can create an alert for a security (look for the Set Alert button at the top). There are multiple conditions to choose from. While the site can hold multiple watchlists, they don’t sync with the mobile app.
TIAA’s site has multiple scanners. The stock screener can find upside or downside possibilities with many filters, such as:
- Return on investment (TTM)
- Current ratio
- Net income growth (5 yr)
- % below 52-week high
- Institutional shares held
- Price change (1 month)
The order ticket here is the same as on the app. Yet, research improves on the site. For instance, under the Financials section on a stock’s page, you’ll find data from balance sheets, income statements, and cash-flow statements, with some info in bar graphs.
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) provides trade suggestions, and Argus offers downloadable PDF stock reports. TIAA’s equity pages also show earnings growth trends and peer comparisons at the bottom.
If a stock has options, you’ll see calls and puts. But no multi-leg strategies are available.
While we enjoyed the extra trading tools on TIAA’s site, we experienced slow speeds and frequent loading times.
Other Software
TIAA has no further digital trading platforms, such as a desktop or an advanced browser interface. The only extra is an Apple Watch app.
Additional Features
Individual Retirement Accounts: TIAA offers personal and business IRAs (closing one costs $130).
Fractional Shares: TIAA brokerage clients can now buy stocks and ETFs in whole-dollar amounts (starting at $25).
Automatic Mutual Fund Purchases: You can set up a recurring schedule for buying mutual funds.
DRIP: Dividends can automatically reinvest into a TIAA account.
Initial Public Offerings: None offered.
Extended-hours Trading: TIAA only has the normal trading day.
Fully-paid Securities Lending Program: Not available.
Our Recommendations
Mutual Funds: A TIAA brokerage account offers robust mutual-fund support. Using
TIAA’s mutual-fund finder, we located 13,128 funds. Out of these, 4,323 accept new investors.
Small Accounts: A taxable brokerage at TIAA has no minimum or closeout fee.
For IRAs, we suggest going elsewhere. TIAA’s fractional trading helps small accounts (though Webull’s trade minimums are even lower).
Beginning Investors: A managed plan with a financial advisor would be fine.
ETF/Stock Trading: With limited software and no foreign exchanges or penny stocks, we’d bypass TIAA and use Charles Schwab.
Retirement Planning & Long-Term Investing: TIAA puts emphasis on retirement.
But the IRA closeout fee suggests Charles Schwab could be a better choice.
TIAA Brokerage Review Conclusion
Although TIAA delivers multiple financial services, they often trail other options, and the company’s costs aren’t always the best deal.
Updated on 10/6/2025.
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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