Broker profile
Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association · US · since 1918
TIAA, with an AI that reads the funds you hold.
What TIAA is, what its own AI does, what TIAA Brokerage costs, and how Walnut reads the TIAA accounts you link, puts each holding against the S&P 500 and answers questions about all of it.
- Reads linked accounts
- Each fund vs the S&P 500
- Login stays at TIAA
Your TIAA, in Walnut
ConnectedWhat is my largest holding across TIAA?
A target date fund, at 38% of your portfolio. Anything over a quarter of the portfolio gets flagged, so it is the first one to look at.
Pricing and fees, checked October 2026
How much does TIAA cost?
- Online stock and ETF commission
- $0
- Cost or minimum to open brokerage
- $0
- A trade placed with a live agent
- $55
- Per trade on transaction-fee funds
- $50
- To transfer a full account out
- $50
- The year TIAA was founded
- 1918
AI features
TIAA has no AI that reads your holdings
TIAA's gAIt platform, launched July 2024, answers questions in tiaa.org search and helps TIAA staff reply faster. As of October 2026 TIAA has no AI that reads your positions and no official connector for Claude or ChatGPT.
Where Walnut fits
TIAA shows each account and its balance. Walnut reads the TIAA accounts you link next to Fidelity, Vanguard or any other broker, puts each holding against the S&P 500, and answers questions about all of it.
Pricing
What TIAA Brokerage costs
TIAA's published brokerage prices, checked October 2026. Walnut charges nothing extra to connect TIAA.
With Walnut
What you can do with TIAA here
- Read the TIAA accounts you linkBrokerage and IRAs, with live prices
- Each holding against the S&P 500As a one-year price return, with momentum
- A keep, trim or exit readPlus a flag on any holding over a quarter
- TIAA next to your other accountsAdd any account that does not link by hand
- See inside a fundNot yet. Each fund reads as one holding
- Place orders from WalnutNot at TIAA. You place them at TIAA
Everything else people ask about TIAA, answered plainly.
Short answer
For saving toward retirement, yes. TIAA Brokerage costs nothing to open, has no minimum and charges no commission on online stock and ETF trades. Any US resident can open one; you do not need to be a TIAA customer already.
Mutual funds carry more rules. No-transaction-fee funds need at least $500 to start, or the fund's own minimum if that is higher, and transaction-fee funds cost $50 a trade. Recurring purchases have no fee and a $100 minimum.
Many people meet TIAA through a workplace plan at a college, hospital or public employer, then add a brokerage account or IRA later. Each one reports on its own, so a heavy tilt to one fund across all of them is easy to miss.
Read the full guide: Which brokerage is best for beginnersShort answer
TIAA Brokerage accounts are carried by Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon subsidiary and SIPC member, so securities are protected up to $500,000, including $250,000 for cash, if the firm fails. SIPC does not cover market losses.
TIAA's annuity guarantees, such as those on TIAA Traditional, depend on TIAA's claims-paying ability rather than SIPC. Connecting TIAA to Walnut uses a secure connection where you sign in at TIAA; Walnut never sees the password and never holds or moves money.
$500K
SIPC protection per customer
$250K
Of that, the limit for cash
1918
The year TIAA was founded
Short answer
TIAA has no official connector for ChatGPT or Claude as of October 2026; its own AI answers questions in tiaa.org search. Walnut links a TIAA account through a secure connection, read only, and its connector brings those holdings into Claude and ChatGPT.
Through Walnut the assistant sees your TIAA funds and stocks at live prices, next to anything you hold at other brokers. It reads and explains; orders for a TIAA account are still placed at TIAA.
Read the full guide: How to connect a brokerage to an AI assistantShort answer
Online stock, ETF and options trades carry no commission. A trade placed with a live agent costs $55 (plus $2.50 a contract on options), transaction-fee mutual funds cost $50 a trade, and moving a full account out costs $50.
Each fund also has its own expenses, charged inside the fund rather than as a line on your statement. Clients who get a financial planning solution from a TIAA Wealth Management Advisor pay $35 instead of $50 on transaction-fee funds.
Read the full guide: How much brokers charge, fee by feeWalnut suggests Public or Robinhood when you want to buy through it, and eight other brokers including E*Trade, tastytrade and Webull also take orders you approve. TIAA and Fidelity read in full and stay view-only.
Quick answers
- Does TIAA charge fees?
- No commission on online stock and ETF trades and no cost to open. Agent-placed trades are $55 and a full transfer out is $50.
- Do I need a TIAA retirement plan to use TIAA?
- No. Any US resident can open a TIAA Brokerage account, online or by phone, without being a TIAA customer.
- Does TIAA have an AI assistant?
- Its gAIt platform answers questions in tiaa.org search and helps TIAA staff. It does not read your holdings for you.
- Can Walnut trade in my TIAA account?
- No. Walnut reads TIAA accounts in full, and you place orders at TIAA. Buying through Walnut works at Public and Robinhood, and at eight other brokers including E*Trade, tastytrade and Webull.
- Does Walnut see my TIAA password?
- No. You sign in at TIAA through a secure connection, and Walnut gets read access to your accounts, never your login.
- Is connecting TIAA to Walnut free?
- Yes. Connecting is free, and so is the assistant up to a per-session allowance. Walnut Unlimited, $9.99 a month on the web, lifts that limit.
Keep reading
Sources, checked October 2026
- TIAA brokerage accounts (no cost or minimum, $0 online trades, any US resident)
- TIAA brokerage account fees
- TIAA Brokerage summary of commissions and fees (June 2026; Pershing LLC carries accounts)
- TIAA client relationship summary, January 2026 ($55 agent trades, $2.50 a contract on agent option trades)
- About TIAA (since 1918, founded by Andrew Carnegie)
- TIAA launches TIAA gAIt (July 2024)
- What SIPC protects ($500,000, including $250,000 cash)
- Fidelity commissions ($0 online stock and ETF trades, no minimum)
- Public fee schedule ($0 stock and ETF trades)
- Public: about us (Traditional and Roth IRAs)
Walnut is an AI financial advisor app; it is not a registered investment adviser. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell a security. Broker fees, products and availability change, so check the current terms with the broker.
See your TIAA the way an analyst would.
Connect in about a minute. Your login stays at TIAA.