We have had a spate of academics contacting us in 2026 about US 403(b)’s and 401(a)’s. We’ve heard teaching or researching at a US university is something of a right of passage for British academics, researchers and teachers. Ivy League campuses, gigantic research budgets and fascinating campus life entice some of the UK’s brightest scholars to careers across the pond.
But what happens when our intrepid band of travellers decide to move back to the UK and kickstart their careers at home? All too often, they’re left with a retirement account puzzle that can be quite difficult to solve. An influx of questions from expats and returning UK citizens desperate to understand their former US academic pension plans: TIAA 403( b )and 401( a )accounts, to be precise. Often with TIAA.
Managing the cross-border mechanics of these plans can be maddening. To better illustrate some of the unique challenges that clients face, we’re tackling a recent case study from one of our advisors. They reached out to us to share a real-life situation that one of their clients in England was struggling with.
Worked as a teacher at a US University and built a TIAA 403b while there
A British lady now living in England wanted to plan how to access the TIAA 403b in the UK and its taxation. She had accumulated these funds while working as a teacher in the USA prior to her moving back to the UK to continue as an academic. It’s a classic situation for many of our cross-border clients. The client is smart and accumulated a sizable nest egg in either a 403( b) or 401( a) plan while working in the US. Now they’ve settled permanently back in the UK, she wants to access those funds over or move to a US Traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to simplify their finances.
Rang TIAA and they told them things are fine
Beware of Call Centre Advice With Cross-Border TIAA Accounts. A generic piece of advice from a US call centre could have led to a poor financial outcome for a UK-based academic. The customer service staff are well versed, and most enquiries can be solved over the phone (with the usual on-hold), but as so few of the handlers are non-residents, they relay general information that is not possible for non-residents, so you need to ask specific questions to get suitable answers as an overseas retiree.
TIAA’s Historic Connection to US Universities
Founded in 1918 by Andrew Carnegie, TIAA (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America) was to serve as the primary retirement savings vehicle for college professors and educators in the United States. He was a Scottish-American industrialist who founded the Carnegie Steel Company. After selling his empire to J.P. Morgan in 1901 for $480 million, he became a trailblazing philanthropist and founded TIAA to provide secure pensions for educators. It’s the default scheme nowadays for many US educational establishments, so when British academics work in them, they get a US pension with TIAA. Nearly every major US collegiate institution—from Ivy League universities to state colleges—partners with TIAA to administer their 403(b) and 401(a) retirement plans.
Masses of academics work in the USA. Why is TIAA not geared up for overseas clients?
From work in the 1990s, we fast-forward to 2026. Our client had worked in America for many years before taking a position back in her native UK. As part of her strategy to tidy-up her US financial affairs, she reached out to the TIAA customer service hotline. Our client specifically asked the agent if she could move the retirement funds from her TIAA-sponsored **403(b)** into a Roth IRA – as she had read that was a tax-efficient pre-retirement idea. The TIAA agent was delightful and helpful. Not only did she assure our client that she could establish what’s known as a “direct rollover” to a new Roth account, but also walked her through the process of completing the forms and gave the okay to submit. The client contacted us to be sure the Roth was the right way. After the initial phone call, we suggested checking specific questions with TIAA again.
Any US taxpayer who holds a traditional 403(b) plan is eligible to roll that balance into either a Traditional IRA or Roth IRA. **However, there is a stark contrast between performing this same transaction as a US resident vs a non-resident.
Instead of accepting generic advice from TIAA’s hotline, we empowered our client with three specific questions which would indicate the issues she faced to achieve the plan they had originally researched and read:
- “Does TIAA allow a non-US citizen with a foreign residential address to open and fund a retail Traditional IRA or Roth IRA account?”
- “If my TIAA account is liquidated or distributed, are international wire transfers allowed? Can the funds be sent directly to my UK bank account, or do you only issue paper cheque?”
- “Does TIAA withhold automatic US federal tax for clients who are considered non-resident aliens? If so, will my distribution be sent by paper cheque?”
No one is knowingly trying to misdirect your retirement planning, but international rules aren’t generally supportive. But asking the right questions can avoid a logistical nightmare and ensure US retirement funds aren’t in a limbo state.
Most 403b providers cannot facilitate international wire transfers for retail distributions to foreign banks; if you contact your provider, they can confirm that any future payouts or required minimum distributions (RMDs) would likely be paid via a physical USD paper cheque mailed to her UK address or require a US domestic payment.
Cashing a USD Cheque in the UK
For any UK resident, receiving a physical USD cheque is a logistical nightmare. Most high-street UK banks no longer accept foreign cheques. Barclays has completely withdrawn its personal foreign cheque cashing. HSBC no longer accepts foreign cheques. Natwest can accept checks in larger branches but payments can be weeks to clear. Santander can cash cheques through its postal service but charges £10. Cheques can be returned unpaid for up to 7 years Cheque collection. This can take up to 12 weeks to clear.
Handling cross-border retirement accounts requires knowledge of not just IRS rules, but also UK HMRC rules. If you have a client trying to manage US pensions from an academic career while living in the UK, please don’t act blindly. Contact Edale today to speak to someone who understands the intricacies of managing American retirement savings from abroad.
Got a 403(b) or 401(a) with TIAA from your time as an international professor or researcher? Need help liquidating your old US retirement account but keep hitting a wall with customer service? Give Edale a call to ensure your transatlantic retirement plan is compliant with US & UK tax law