The Fellows Program provides the TIAA-CREF Institute access to the nation's leading scholars in areas that are important to the mission of the Institute and to TIAA-CREF generally. We have developed relationships with researchers that will partner with us in various initiatives, including: preparing of contract and grant research, organizing major conferences and policy symposiums, writing timely policy briefs, serving as judges for awards and grant applications.
Membership in the TIAA-CREF Fellows Programs is restricted to nationally prominent scholars with interests in research, teaching, and policy issues in areas of interest to TIAA-CREF including:
- Employer-sponsored pension plans - plan design, plan management and funding, government regulation of these plans, early retirement and phased retirement plans
- Retirement decisions - transition from full-time work to complete retirement, factors that influence retirement decisions, early retirement and phased retirement plans, and the role of Social Security
- Health insurance for active workers and retirees - importance of health insurance in attracting, retaining, and retiring employees, health care inflation, government policies that influence health insurance, long-term care and Medicare Lifelong savings - tax-deferred savings accounts, individual savings decisions, the role of employers and the government in assisting individuals to save for an adequate retirement income Higher Education - management of colleges and universities, academic labor markets, endowment management, state and federal education policies, financing the cost of higher education through tax-deferred savings accounts, faculty career paths, and post-retirement relationships
- Corporate Governance - shareholder rights and responsibilities, executive compensation, the responsibilities of the board of directors, and role of pension funds in corporate governance
- Women, retirement savings, and wealth management - gender differences in annual earnings and size of pension accounts, risk preferences and asset allocations, long term care and health insurance
- Financial education - the impact of financial education on retirement goals and retirement savings, implications for TIAA-CREF educational seminars, importance of financial education as individual responsibility for retirement savings increases
