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TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Index Retirement Income Fund | TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Index Retirement Income Fund

Risk/Return:

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Supplement [Text Block]

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FEES AND EXPENSES

          This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (deducted directly from gross amount of transaction)

	Retirement	Premier	Institutional
	Class	Class	Class
Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (percentage of offering price)	0%	0%	0%
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge	0%	0%	0%
Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions	0%	0%	0%
Redemption or Exchange Fee	0%	0%	0%
Maximum Account Fee	0%	0%	0%

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

	Retirement	Premier	Institutional
	Class	Class	Class
Management Fees	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Fees1	0.05%	0.15%	–
Other Expenses	1.01%	0.73%	0.72%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses2	0.13%	0.13%	0.13%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	1.29%	1.11%	0.95%
Waivers and Expense Reimbursements3,4	(0.87)%	(0.79)%	(0.78)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement	0.42%	0.32%	0.17%

1	The Retirement Class of the Fund has adopted a Distribution (12b-1) Plan that compensates the Fund’s distributor, Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc. (“TPIS”), for its expenses in providing distribution, promotional and/or shareholder services to Retirement Class shares at the annual rate of 0.05% of average daily net assets attributable to Retirement Class shares. In addition, TPIS has contractually agreed not to seek payment of this fee under the Plan for Retirement Class shares through September 30, 2013, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.
2	“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” are the Fund’s proportionate amount of the expenses of any investment companies or pools in which it invests. These expenses are not paid directly by Fund shareholders. Instead, Fund shareholders bear these expenses indirectly because they reduce Fund performance. Because “Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” are included in the chart above, the Fund’s operating expenses here will not correlate with the expenses included in the Financial Highlights in this Prospectus and the Fund’s annual report.
3	Under the Fund’s expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, Inc. (“Advisors”), has contractually agreed to reimburse the Fund for any Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses and extraordinary expenses) that exceed: (i) 0.35% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (ii) 0.25% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; and (iii) 0.10% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least September 30, 2013, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.
4	In addition to the expense reimbursement arrangements, Advisors has contractually agreed to waive a portion of the Fund’s Management Fees equal to, on an annual basis, 0.06%. This waiver will remain in effect through April 30, 2014, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

Risk/Return [Heading]

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TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Index Retirement Income Fund