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TIAA-CREF Lifestyle Moderate Fund  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading TIAA-CREF Lifestyle Moderate Fund
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading Investment objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks long-term total return, consisting of capital appreciation and current income.
Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading Fees and expenses
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.
Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] rr_ShareholderFeesCaption SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)
Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Portfolio Turnover [Heading] rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading Portfolio turnover
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the fiscal year ended May 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 23% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate 23.00%
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading Example
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses, before fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the duration noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Strategy [Heading] rr_StrategyHeading Principal investment strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block] rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Fund is a “fund of funds” that invests in Institutional Class shares of other funds of the Trust and potentially in other investment pools or investment products, including other funds advised by the Fund’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”), or its affiliates (collectively, the “Underlying Funds”). The Fund is designed for investors seeking long-term total return, consisting of capital appreciation and current income, through a relatively stable asset allocation strategy targeting a moderate risk-return profile. Advisors generally seeks to meet the Fund’s investment objective by investing: (1) approximately 60% of the Fund’s assets in equity Underlying Funds and (2) approximately 40% of the Fund’s assets in fixed-income Underlying Funds. The Fund may deviate from these target allocations by up to ten percentage points depending upon current market conditions and outlook.


The Underlying Funds’ allocation targets generally represent targets for investments in equity and fixed-income asset classes. Within the equity and fixed-income asset classes, Advisors allocates the Fund’s investments to particular market sectors (which may include U.S. equity, international equity, fixed-income and short-term fixed-income) represented by various Underlying Funds. To maintain an appropriate allocation among the Underlying Funds, the portfolio managers monitor the domestic and foreign equity markets, as well as overall financial and economic conditions. The Fund may sometimes be more heavily weighted toward equities or fixed-income than the target allocations, if the portfolio managers believe market conditions warrant. For example, the Fund may increase its holdings in fixed-income Underlying Funds in periods when the portfolio managers believe the equity markets will decline. The market sector allocations and Underlying Fund allocations may also be changed over time by the portfolio managers, including the addition and removal of market sectors and Underlying Funds in which the Fund invests in light of the Fund’s desired level of risk and potential return at a particular time as evaluated by the portfolio managers based on a mix of qualitative and quantitative factors. The portfolio managers may also opportunistically purchase other Funds or other investment pools or investment products, based on the portfolio managers’ evaluation of the market sectors and/or Underlying Funds without prior notice to shareholders. If 10% or more of the Fund’s assets are expected to be invested in any Underlying Fund, market sector or asset class not listed in the chart below, shareholders will receive prior notice of such change.


As a result of its investments in the Underlying Funds, the Fund’s returns will reflect investments in a mix of domestic and foreign equities of companies of various sizes and a variety of domestic and foreign fixed-income instruments of private and governmental issuers of varying maturities and credit qualities.


As part of the Fund’s ability to invest in unaffiliated investment products or pools noted above, the Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”) to gain exposure to various market sectors or securities in order to effect its asset allocation strategy. Additionally, the Fund may use ETFs and ETNs for cash management, hedging or defensive purposes. ETFs and ETNs will be subject to the risks associated with the types of securities or sectors that they track, while ETNs, which are structured as fixed-income obligations, will also be subject to the general risks of fixed-income securities, including credit risk.


The Fund’s asset class allocations, market sector allocations within each asset class, and Underlying Fund allocations within each market sector as of June 30, 2019, are listed in the chart below. These allocations may change over time. Underlying Fund allocations in particular may change from year to year.


        

Asset Class

Allocation

  

Market Sector

Allocation

 

Underlying Funds

Allocation

Equity

60.66%

 

U.S. Equity

43.54%

 

Ÿ Large-Cap Growth Fund

10.74%

      

Ÿ Large-Cap Value Fund

10.40%

      

Ÿ Growth & Income Fund

9.52%

      

Ÿ Quant Large-Cap Growth Fund

6.02%

      

Ÿ Quant Large-Cap Value Fund

2.90%

      

Ÿ Quant Small-Cap Equity Fund

2.13%

      

Ÿ Quant Small/Mid-Cap Equity Fund

1.83%

   

International Equity

17.12%

 

Ÿ International Equity Fund

4.72%

      

Ÿ International Opportunities Fund

3.92%

      

Ÿ Emerging Markets Equity Fund

3.10%

      

Ÿ Quant International Equity Fund

2.97%

      

Ÿ Quant International Small-Cap Equity Fund

2.41%

Fixed-Income

39.34%

 

Fixed-Income

39.34%

 

Ÿ Bond Plus Fund

39.34%


        

Total

100.00%

  

100.00%

  

100.00%
Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading Principal investment risks
Risk Narrative [Text Block] rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund. An investment in the Fund, due to the nature of the Fund’s portfolio holdings, typically is subject to the following principal investment risks:


· Asset Allocation Risk—The risk that the Fund may not achieve its target allocations. In addition, there is the risk that the asset allocations may not achieve the desired risk-return characteristic or that the selection of Underlying Funds and the allocations among them will result in the Fund underperforming other similar funds or cause an investor to lose money.


· Underlying Funds Risks—The Fund is exposed to the risks of the Underlying Funds in which it invests in direct proportion to the amount of assets the Fund allocates to each Underlying Fund.


· Equity Underlying Funds Risks—The risks of investing in equity Underlying Funds include risks specific to their investment strategies, as well as risks related to the equity markets in general, such as:


· market risk—The risk that the price of equity investments may decline in response to general market and economic conditions or events, including conditions and developments outside of the financial markets;


· issuer risk—The risk that an issuer’s earnings prospects and overall financial position will deteriorate, causing a decline in the value of the issuer’s financial instruments over short or extended periods of time; and


· foreign investment risk—The increased risks of adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments compared to investments in U.S. issuers, which can result in greater market and price volatility.


· Fixed-Income Underlying Funds Risks—The risks of investing in fixed-income Underlying Funds include risks specific to their investment strategies, as well as risks related to the fixed-income markets in general, such as:


· interest rate risk—The risk that the value or yield of fixed-income investments may decline if interest rates change, which could adversely affect a Fund’s income or the value of its holdings;


· extension risk—The risk that during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing a Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available;


· issuer risk—The risk that an issuer’s earnings prospects and overall financial position will deteriorate, causing a decline in the value of the issuer’s financial instruments over short or extended periods of time;


· credit risk—The risk that a decline in an issuer’s financial position may prevent it from making principal and interest payments on fixed-income investments held by a Fund when due;


· credit spread risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities;


· income volatility risk—The risk that the level of current income from a Fund’s portfolio of fixed-income securities may decline due to rapid and unpredictable changes in prevailing market interest rates; and


· call risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in a Fund’s income.


· Active Management Risk—The risk that the strategy, investment selection or trading execution of Advisors could cause the Fund or an Underlying Fund to underperform its benchmark index or mutual funds with similar investment objectives.


· Fund of Funds Risk—The ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective will depend in part upon the ability of the Underlying Funds to achieve their investment objectives. There can be no guarantee that any Underlying Fund will achieve its investment objective.


There can be no assurances that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. You should not consider the Fund to be a complete investment program. Please see the non-summary portion of the Prospectus for more detailed information about the risks described above, including the risks of the Underlying Funds.
Risk Lose Money [Text] rr_RiskLoseMoney You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading Past performance
Performance Narrative [Text Block] rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

The following chart and table help illustrate some of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year. The bar chart shows the annual total returns of the Institutional Class of the Fund, before taxes, in each full calendar year since inception of the Institutional Class. Because the expenses vary across share classes, the performance of the Institutional Class may vary from the other share classes. Below the bar chart are the best and worst returns of the Institutional Class for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, and how those returns compare to those of a broad-based securities market index and a composite index based on the Fund’s target allocations. After-tax performance is shown only for the Institutional Class shares, and after-tax returns for the other classes of shares will vary from the after-tax returns presented for Institutional Class shares.


The returns shown below reflect previous agreements by Advisors to waive or reimburse the Fund and certain Underlying Funds for certain fees and expenses. Without these waivers and reimbursements, the returns of the Fund would have been lower. Past performance of the Fund (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future. The indices listed below are unmanaged, and you cannot invest directly in an index. The returns for the indices reflect no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes.


For current performance information of each share class, including performance to the most recent month-end, please visit www.tiaa.org.
Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text] rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns The following chart and table help illustrate some of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year.
Performance Additional Market Index [Text] rr_PerformanceAdditionalMarketIndex As of the close of business on December 31, 2018, the Lifestyle Moderate Fund Composite Index consisted of: 42.0% Russell 3000® Index; 40.0% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index; and 18.0% MSCI All Country World Index ex USA Investable Market Index. The Fund’s composite benchmark, the components that make up a composite benchmark and the method of calculating a composite benchmark’s performance may vary over time.
Performance Availability Website Address [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress www.tiaa.org
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text] rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture Past performance of the Fund (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future.
Bar Chart [Heading] rr_BarChartHeading ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)† Lifestyle Moderate Fund
Bar Chart Footnotes [Text Block] rr_BarChartFootnotesTextBlock

† The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 13.34%.
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block] rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best quarter: 9.36%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2012. Worst quarter: -9.55%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2018.
Year to Date Return, Label rr_YearToDateReturnLabel The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was
Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate Jun. 30, 2019
Bar Chart, Year to Date Return rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn 13.34%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel Best quarter:
Highest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate Mar. 31, 2012
Highest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn 9.36%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel Worst quarter:
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate Dec. 31, 2018
Lowest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn (9.55%)
Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes [Text] rr_IndexNoDeductionForFeesExpensesTaxes (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the periods shown and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes.
Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(a), 401(k) or 403(b) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
Performance Table One Class of after Tax Shown [Text] rr_PerformanceTableOneClassOfAfterTaxShown After-tax performance is shown only for the Institutional Class shares, and after-tax returns for the other classes of shares will vary from the after-tax returns presented for Institutional Class shares.
Performance Table Closing [Text Block] rr_PerformanceTableClosingTextBlock

Current performance of the Fund’s shares may be higher or lower than that shown above.


After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the periods shown and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(a), 401(k) or 403(b) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). After-tax returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary.
Average Annual Return, Caption rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018
TIAA-CREF Lifestyle Moderate Fund | Morningstar Moderate Target Risk Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (4.76%)
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 4.08%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 6.57% [1]
TIAA-CREF Lifestyle Moderate Fund | Lifestyle Moderate Fund Composite Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (4.69%) [2]
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 4.61% [2]
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 7.01% [1],[2]
TIAA-CREF Lifestyle Moderate Fund | Institutional Class  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum deferred sales charge rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Redemption or exchange fee rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000) rr_ShareholderFeeOther none
Management fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.10%
Other expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.07%
Acquired Fund fees and expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.40% [3]
Total annual Fund operating expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.57%
Waivers and expense reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.07%) [4]
Total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.50%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 51
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 176
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 311
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 707
Annual Return 2012 rr_AnnualReturn2012 15.12%
Annual Return 2013 rr_AnnualReturn2013 16.84%
Annual Return 2014 rr_AnnualReturn2014 4.98%
Annual Return 2015 rr_AnnualReturn2015 0.46%
Annual Return 2016 rr_AnnualReturn2016 6.59%
Annual Return 2017 rr_AnnualReturn2017 17.00%
Annual Return 2018 rr_AnnualReturn2018 (6.95%)
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (6.95%)
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 4.12%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 7.28%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Dec. 09, 2011
TIAA-CREF Lifestyle Moderate Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (8.19%)
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 2.79%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 6.01%
TIAA-CREF Lifestyle Moderate Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (3.58%)
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 2.83%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 5.40%
TIAA-CREF Lifestyle Moderate Fund | Advisor Class  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum deferred sales charge rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Redemption or exchange fee rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000) rr_ShareholderFeeOther none
Management fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.10%
Other expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.15% [5]
Acquired Fund fees and expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.40% [3]
Total annual Fund operating expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.65%
Waivers and expense reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.07%) [4]
Total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.58%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 59
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 201
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 355
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 804
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (7.00%)
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 4.08% [6]
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 7.25% [6]
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Dec. 04, 2015
TIAA-CREF Lifestyle Moderate Fund | Premier Class  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum deferred sales charge rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Redemption or exchange fee rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000) rr_ShareholderFeeOther none
Management fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.10%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.15%
Other expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.07%
Acquired Fund fees and expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.40% [3]
Total annual Fund operating expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.72%
Waivers and expense reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.07%) [4]
Total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.65%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 66
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 223
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 394
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 888
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (7.12%)
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 3.99%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 7.13%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Dec. 09, 2011
TIAA-CREF Lifestyle Moderate Fund | Retirement Class  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum deferred sales charge rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Redemption or exchange fee rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000) rr_ShareholderFeeOther none
Management fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.10%
Other expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.32%
Acquired Fund fees and expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.40% [3]
Total annual Fund operating expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.82%
Waivers and expense reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.07%) [4]
Total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.75%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 77
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 255
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 448
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 1,007
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (7.19%)
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 3.87%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 7.02%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Dec. 09, 2011
TIAA-CREF Lifestyle Moderate Fund | Retail Class  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum deferred sales charge rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Redemption or exchange fee rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000) rr_ShareholderFeeOther $ 15.00
Management fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.10%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.25%
Other expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.08%
Acquired Fund fees and expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.40% [3]
Total annual Fund operating expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.83%
Waivers and expense reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.06%) [4]
Total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.77%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 79
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 259
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 455
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 1,020
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (7.28%)
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 3.83%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 6.97%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Dec. 09, 2011
[1] Performance is calculated from the inception date of the Institutional Class.
[2] As of the close of business on December 31, 2018, the Lifestyle Moderate Fund Composite Index consisted of: 42.0% Russell 3000® Index; 40.0% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index; and 18.0% MSCI All Country World Index ex USA Investable Market Index. The Fund's composite benchmark, the components that make up a composite benchmark and the method of calculating a composite benchmark's performance may vary over time.
[3] "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.
[4] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC ("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) 0.10% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.25% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.25% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.35% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; and (v) 0.49% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least September 30, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.
[5] Restated to reflect estimate for the current fiscal year.
[6] The performance shown for the Advisor Class that is prior to its inception date is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor Class. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.