Or call T/C, and they will calculate the number for you.  Usually will take them about a minute. 

Dick 

xnswim2, because you used the word "flip", it sounds like you have read some of the posts in the last six months on this topic.

My reason for replying is to make sure that you read my old posts (LINK) and (LINK) that discusses the consequences of "flipping" if you, far in the future, annuitize your TIAA Traditional accumulation. (Believe me, you don't know now whether or not you will!)

You should also note Ray's more recent two posts (LINK) and (LINK) in which he describes how an old account with less principal delivered a higher monthly payment, simply because the money in it had never been flipped.

Note that if you have the time, you can click a button on those posts to see the entire discussion.

Tim 

Well said, Tim (and a good reminder from Ray's previous post).

The trouble with "flipping" is that it can turn into a classic instance of "penny-wise pound-foolish" and you won't realize it until years from now.   Bob U.

Keep in mind that my posts referred to by Tim and Bob refer to Traditional Funds held in a RA Account (not sure but I think they would also apply to a GRA). They do not apply to an IRA or GSRA and in fact I am in general, an advocate of taking advantage of high Traditional Account interest rates by moving money out and back in. One should not do this without understanding that when one does move Traditonal Accounts out of these Accounts, all old vintages and associated interest rates are lost. When the funds are moved back into the Traditional Account in one of these two accounts (IRA or GSRA) the Traditional Accounts take on the vintage of the day and the associated interest rate.

Ray

In the message immediately above when I mentioned a IRA or GSRA I should have included a SRA also.

Ray

I suggest you follow the previously made suggestion to call TIAA and ask for your exact rate.

I tried this and was informed that my aggregate rate of return was 5.58%. Yet the mystery is when I divide the daily dividend rate by the total Traditional investment to get the daily percentage, then multiply the result by 365, the rate I receive turns out to be 5.11%.

This is about the 10th time I've tried to see if I would luck out and get an advisor who understands how it's calculated. No such luck. Unfortunately, when an advisor doesn't know, he/she can't stop talking to cover up his/her lack of knowledge. It wears me down, until I find an excuse to get off the phone, (to keep from hurting his/her feelings.)

The only solution I can imagine is that if I project it into the future as if the investment would keep growing for a full year, then by year-end the daily dividend would be at a higher rate???

If they don't know, how will I know? I guess I have to trust the actuaries.

Sy

If you post a sample calculation (with real or fictitious numbers), I will review it. I think we can resolve any issues. I should be able to explain to you how to perform the calculation you describe.

From your post, I think one of the issues may be in determining the daily dividend rate.

For example, if the yearly rate is 5% the daily rate (in %) is not .05/366; but, is the 366th root of 1.05 less 1 times 100. This sounds more complicated than it really is.

For an aggregate yearly rate of 5.58%, the daily rate is 0.0148%.

To go from the daily rate to the yearly rate follow these steps.

1) express the daily rate as a decimal  .000148

2) add 1  1.00148

3) raise this number to the 366th power (leap year)  1.0558

4) subtract 1 and multiply by 100  5.58%

The main trick is to remember that TIAA quotes compound annual rates, not simple interest rates. Also, when using data from one day - the round off errors can be significant. An accumulation of $3001.00 can actually be any number between $3000.9950 and $3001.0049. When this number is compounded by the number of days in the year the error also grows.

Jack 

Sy,

There is another possibility you may want to consider.  If your calculations are correct, a 5.11% daily rate is approximately what you should expect to receive if your annual rate of returrn is 5.25%. 

If your aggregate rate of return is actually supposed to be 5.58%, perhaps you may want to check with TIAA again (for the eleventh time?) to make sure you aren't getting short-changed.

Jared