Yes! You can use AI to fill out TIAA-CREF Rollover from your Retirement Investments

This section is frequently filled out incorrectly due to its complexity. Common errors include unmarried individuals filling out Part B (for married individuals), married individuals failing to get their spouse's signature, or the spouse's signature not being properly witnessed by a Notary Public or Plan Representative. A mistake here will lead to immediate rejection of the form, as spousal consent is a legal requirement for ERISA plans. To avoid this, carefully read the instructions to determine if you should complete Part A (Unmarried) or Part B (Married) and ensure any required signatures are witnessed and dated correctly within the 180-day validity period.

Applicants often overlook the requirement for their employer's Plan Representative to sign off on the withdrawal, especially if they have been terminated, are disabled, or are requesting an in-service withdrawal. People assume their signature is sufficient, but TIAA-CREF cannot process the request without this authorization as it verifies eligibility under the plan's rules. This omission is a primary cause of processing delays. Before submitting, confirm if your situation requires employer approval and contact your benefits office to have Step 11 completed.

When rolling funds into a Roth IRA, pre-tax amounts become taxable. Applicants often skip the tax withholding section, not realizing the consequences. If no selection is made, the form defaults to a 20% federal tax withholding, which can be a significant and unexpected reduction in the rollover amount. To avoid this, carefully consider your tax situation and explicitly select 'NO' or specify a 'YES' amount or percentage for federal tax withholding in Step 8.

In the section for specifying rollover amounts from existing funds, people often enter both a dollar amount and a percentage for the same fund, or use non-whole numbers. The form requires choosing either a whole dollar amount OR a whole number percentage, not both. This ambiguity forces the processing agent to guess the applicant's intent, leading to delays while they contact you for clarification. To prevent this, decide on one format for each fund and ensure all entries are whole numbers.

Applicants sometimes leave the Plan and Sub Plan number fields blank, assuming their name and SSN are enough to identify the account. However, these numbers are crucial for TIAA-CREF to locate the specific retirement plan account from which funds are being rolled over. Without this information, the request cannot be processed and will be delayed until you call to provide the missing details. Always locate these numbers from a previous statement or by calling TIAA-CREF before filling out the form.

The form's instructions explicitly state that there are different rules and separate forms for rolling over from a TIAA Traditional Account. Despite multiple warnings, individuals still attempt to use this form for that purpose, leading to an automatic rejection. This happens because they don't read the important information box on the first page. To avoid this, if any portion of your rollover involves a TIAA Traditional Account, you must call the provided 800 number to get the correct forms and instructions first.

When rolling over to another investment company, applicants may provide an incomplete address, a missing account number, or an incorrect company name. Since a physical check is mailed, any error in this information can result in the check being lost, delayed, or sent to the wrong destination. To ensure a smooth transfer, contact the receiving institution beforehand to confirm their exact mailing address for rollover checks and your full account number, then double-check your entries in Step 7.

It is a simple but surprisingly common mistake to forget to sign and date the form in Step 9. An unsigned application is legally invalid and will be returned immediately, halting the entire rollover process. This often happens when people are focused on the more complex financial details and notarization requirements. Always perform a final check to ensure your signature and the current date are present before submission. AI-powered tools like Instafill.ai can help by highlighting required signature fields to prevent such oversights.

The form specifies that rollovers of $50,000 or more must be sent via mail with original documents, while smaller amounts can be faxed. Applicants with large rollovers may fax the form for speed, not realizing this violates the submission rules. This results in the request being held or rejected until the original documents are mailed, causing significant delays. Always check your total rollover amount and use the correct submission method—fax or mail—as instructed in Step 12.

The form requires additional documentation in certain situations, such as proof of disability (Step 11) or a Form W-8BEN for non-U.S. residents (Step 1). Applicants often forget to include these necessary attachments with their submission. This creates an incomplete package, and TIAA-CREF will pause the request and contact you for the missing documents, delaying the rollover. Before mailing, use the checklist in Step 12 and review your answers to ensure all required supporting paperwork is included in the package. If the form is a non-fillable PDF, a tool like Instafill.ai can convert it to a fillable version, making it easier to manage and attach digital documents.