Benefits
How to Enroll/Change
Start Managing Your Retirement
You can enroll, change the amount you contribute, change your investment options, and view your retirement account(s) by logging on to the Stanford Retirement Manager (and/or TIAA-CREF) or by calling Fidelity (Stanford's retirement savings administrator) at 888-793-8733. For a full description of the enrollment process and how to make changes, refer to the .
If you complete the enrollment process on the Stanford Retirement Manager by noon on the 10th of the month, your payroll deductions will begin with the paycheck on the 22nd. If you complete your enrollment by noon on the 25th of the month, your payroll deduction will begin with the paycheck on the 7th of the following month. If the 10th or the 25th of the month falls on a holiday or weekend, the enrollment deadline is the noon the prior business day. We provide for your reference.
Note: Neither Stanford nor any Plan fiduciary or investment provider will be liable if an administrative plan process (i.e., enrollment, distribution) is materially delayed due to circumstances beyond their reasonable control. This includes, but is not limited to, war, earthquake, fire, flood, hurricane, tornado, pandemic, acts of terrorism and acts of God which could not be avoided by the exercise of due diligence.
This is your retirement savings, so it is your responsibility to monitor your paychecks and verify that your payroll deductions are accurate. Remember, you can make changes to the amount you contribute as often as every pay period, or stop contributing at any time.
Making Changes To Your Retirement Elections
You can view your account balance on the Stanford Retirement Manager (for Vanguard and Fidelity funds) or the TIAA-CREF Website. You can decide to change:
- How much you contribute
- How you would like your investment split among the investment providers
- How you want your contributions invested
Tax-Deferred Account (TDA) and Contributory Retirement Account (CRA)
For Future Contributions:
You may change how to invest your account's future contributions at any time.
- To establish or change the amount you contribute, log onto the Stanford Retirement Manager or call Fidelity at 888-793-8733.
- To change where your contributions are invested, log onto the Stanford Retirement Manager. You can elect to have your contributions invested among a wide selection of Vanguard and Fidelity Funds. To change where your TIAA-CREF contributions are invested, call TIAA-CREF directly at 800-842-2776.
For Existing Balances:
Most of the available investment options allow you to transfer previous contributions and earnings to any other available investment option.
- To transfer an existing balance within the Stanford Retirement Manager (Fidelity and Vanguard funds), log onto the Stanford Retirement Manager or call Fidelity at 888-793-8733.
- To transfer an existing balance within TIAA-CREF, call TIAA-CREF at 800-842-2776.
- To learn how to transfer your account balance within the Stanford Retirement Manager to TIAA-CREF (or vice versa), read .
Note: Some investment companies impose restrictions and/or fees for certain transactions. Check directly with each of your investment provider for rules and what charges they allow.
The Retirement Savings section of the Stanford Benefits website provides a summary of eligibility, coverage, vesting, retirement options, payment options and other subjects related to retirement savings. However, the official Plan Documents, together with certain annuity contracts and custodial agreements with investment providers (all as amended from time-to-time) govern Plan operation, and the determination and payment of benefits. In the event of any conflict between the information in this section and the official Plan Documents or any of the annuity contracts or custodial agreements, the Plan Document, annuity contract, or custodial agreement will govern.
