Reminder: Review Your Beneficiaries

When was the last time you reviewed your life insurance and CMU retirement plan beneficiary elections?

Life Insurance: It is always a good idea to periodically review your life insurance beneficiary designations. If you do not designate a beneficiary, a default is assigned as follows: married spouse or registered domestic partner; otherwise children; otherwise parents; otherwise siblings; otherwise your estate. For instructions on designating a beneficiary through Workday, see the Designate Life Insurance Beneficiary Quick Guide [pdf].

CMU Retirement Plans: With the recent transition to a single record keeper for the CMU Faculty and Staff Retirement Plan (FSRP) or 401k Plan, now is a great time to review designated beneficiaries to make sure they are current. If you were initially participating with one provider, your beneficiary designations were transferred to the new retirement accounts at TIAA. If you had CMU retirement accounts with both TIAA and Vanguard, your beneficiary in your new CMU retirement plan accounts at TIAA was set to the default per the terms of the plan (e.g. "Estate" or "Surviving Spouse" as applicable). For those who had a spousal waiver on file, a new waiver will need to be completed which can be accessed online from your account. Learn how to view and/or update your plan beneficiary designations.