Learned today from Motley Fool (http://www.fool.com/investing/dividends-income/2008/09/15/are-annuities-at-risk.aspx) that certain States provide a level of protection against failure of providers of annuities  - most of which are not covered by FDIC insurance. This link enables you to check out the situation for your State  (http://www.nolhga.com/policyholderinfo/main.cfm/location/ga).

I assume that this could provide a certain level of cover for TIAA traditional accounts in the case of the unthinkable, though I guess that there is little protection for many if not all of the mutual fund-like investments offered by TIAA-CREFF.

 Can anyone enlighten on this further ?