Participation in TIAA's Lifetime Income Solutions Accelerates as Plan Sponsors Embrace Annuity-Embedded Defaults
In 2025, younger workers showed the highest rates of participation increases, driven by intentional plan design amid growing demand for lifetime income
NEW YORK, April 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Plan sponsors are fundamentally reshaping retirement security for workers of all ages by embedding TIAA lifetime income options in default investments, with Gen Z and Millennial workers showing the sharpest acceleration in participation in 2025.
According to an in-depth analysis of thousands of retirement plans, contributions to TIAA fixed annuities grew across Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z participants in 2025. Notably, the number of Gen Z (born 1997–2012) workers accumulating in lifetime income solutions grew nearly 37% year-over-year, while Millennials (born 1981–1996) saw an increase of 13%.
The growth in younger workers having access to guaranteed lifetime income reflects a fundamental shift in how employers and their fiduciary consultants are approaching retirement planning and responding to what workers actually want. Data from TIAA's American Retirement Confidence Survey found 92% of Americans are interested in a guaranteed source of income (aside from Social Security) to cover day-to-day expenses in retirement, including 88% of Gen Z workers and 94% of Millennials.
"More and more workers of all ages are benefitting from the steady, predictable growth that is offered by TIAA's flagship fixed annuities, and they'll also have the option of electing guaranteed lifetime income once they reach retirement," said Kourtney Gibson, CEO of Retirement Solutions at TIAA. "The prudent decisions plan sponsors and consultants are making today are building a strong foundation of retirement readiness, particularly for younger workers, from the start of their careers, giving them the sense of security that comes from knowing they can have guaranteed income in retirement."
In 2025, the number of institutions offering TIAA and Nuveen's lifetime income target-date strategies—TIAA RetirePlus and the Nuveen Lifecycle Income (NLI) CIT series—in their default investments jumped 32% year-over-year. Overall, employers incorporating lifetime income in default plan investments increased 16%. (The trustee for the NLI CIT series is SEI Trust Company.)
Recognizing TIAA annuities can make a measurable impact on employees' ability to retire with confidence, institutions are increasingly embedding these solutions directly into their plan designs rather than offering them as discretionary add-ons. Plan sponsors and independent fiduciary consultants put TIAA's annuities through rigorous, ongoing evaluation before incorporating them into retirement plans—a process that has resulted in adoption by some of the nation's most respected institutions.
"Plan sponsors are making lifetime income a central part of their retirement programs," said Colbert Narcisse, Chief Product Officer, Head of Insurance Solutions & New Markets at TIAA. "They understand that retirement readiness isn't just about saving money — it's about having low-cost, customizable income options built directly into the plan. That kind of foundation helps employees retire with confidence."
For additional insights on how early-career savers are redefining financial security, explore TIAA's Financial Essentials content at https://www.tiaa.org/public/learn/financial-essentials/early-career-financial-security-guide.
About TIAA
TIAA aims to provide secure retirements and outcome-focused investment solutions to millions of people and thousands of institutions.i It paid more than $6.17 billion in lifetime income to retired clients in 2025ii and has $1.5 trillion in assets under management (as of 12/31/2025).iii
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Annuities are issued by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), New York, NY.
Any guarantees under annuities issued by TIAA are subject to TIAA's claims-paying ability.
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TIAA RetirePlus SelectSM and TIAA RetirePlus Pro® are administered by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America ("TIAA") as plan recordkeeper. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, Member FINRA distributes securities products. TIAA and CREF annuity contracts and certificates are issued by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) and College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF), New York, NY, respectively. Each is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations. Transactions in the underlying investments invested in based on the models on behalf of the plan participants are executed through TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, member FINRA.
TIAA RetirePlus Select
TIAA RetirePlus Select is an asset allocation program that includes asset allocation models that a plan participant may choose to guide the investment of his or her account into underlying investment options selected by the plan sponsor (the "underlying investments"). The plan sponsor selects the specific underlying investments available under its plan to represent the various asset classes in the models. An independent third-party advisor engaged by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America ("TIAA") developed the target asset class ratios for the models and the TIAA RetirePlus Select is administered by TIAA as plan recordkeeper. In making TIAA RetirePlus Select available to plans, TIAA is not providing investment advice to the plans or plan participants.
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TIAA RetirePlus Pro, a model-based service, is administered by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America ("TIAA") as plan recordkeeper.
The TIAA RetirePlus Pro Models are asset allocation recommendations developed in one of three ways, depending on your plan structure: i) by your plan sponsor, ii) by your plan sponsor in consultation with consultants and other investment advisors designated by the plan sponsor, or iii) exclusively by consultants and other investment advisors selected by your plan sponsor whereby assets are allocated to underlying mutual funds and annuities that are permissible investments under the plan. Model-based accounts will be managed on the basis of the plan participant's personal financial situation and investment objectives (for example, taking into account factors such as participant age and risk capacity as determined by a risk tolerance questionnaire).
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About Nuveen Lifecycle Income CIT Series
SEI Trust Company serves as the Trustee of the Nuveen/SEI Trust Company Investment Trust III and maintains ultimate fiduciary authority over the management of, and the investments made, in the Nuveen Lifecycle Income CIT Series (Lifecycle CIT Series).
Each fund is part of a trust operated by the trustee. The trustee is a trust company organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and wholly owned subsidiary of SEI Investments Company (SEI). The Lifecycle CIT Series is managed by the trustee, based on the investment advice of Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC, the investment adviser to the trust, and Nuveen Asset Management, LLC as investment sub-adviser to the Lifecycle CIT Series.
The Lifecycle CIT Series are trusts for the collective investment of assets of participating tax qualified pension and profit-sharing plans and related trusts, governmental plans and other eligible plans, as more fully described in the Declaration of Trust. As a bank collective investment trust, the trust is exempt from registration as an investment company. A plan fiduciary should consider the funds' objectives, risks, and expenses before investing. This and other information can be found in the Declaration of Trust and the Funds' Disclosure Memorandum.
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TIAA Traditional and TIAA Secure Income Account are fixed annuity products. TIAA Traditional is issued through these contracts: Form series including but not limited to: 1000.24; G-1000.4; IGRS-01-84-ACC; IGRSP-01-84-ACC; 6008.8. TIAA Secure Income Account is issued through these contracts: Form series including but not limited to: TIAA-UQDIA-002-K, TIAA-STDFA-001-NUV and related state specific versions. Not all contracts are available in all states or currently issued.
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i Based on data in PLANSPONSOR's 2025 DC Recordkeeping Survey published June 25, 2025.
ii As of December 31, 2025, TIAA paid out $6.17 billion in total annuity income. This figure represents all annuity income, including guaranteed and additional amounts, for all of TIAA's annuity products.
iii As of December 31, 2025, assets under management across Nuveen Investments affiliates and TIAA investment management teams are $1.506 billion.
TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, Member FINRA, distributes securities products. Annuity contracts and certificates are issued by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) and College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF), New York, NY. Each is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations.
©2026 Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund, New York, NY
SOURCE TIAA
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