Path2College 529 Plan

Privacy Policy

An Important Notice from TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc. about Its Privacy Policy

Please read this notice carefully. It gives you important information about how TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc. ("TFI") handles nonpublic personal information it may receive about you in connection with the Georgia Higher Education Savings Plan's Path2College 529 Plan (the "Plan"). It applies to all past, present and future participants in the Plan.

Information We May Collect

We, on behalf of the Plan, may collect personal information about you from various sources to provide information requested by you about the Plan, as well as to service and maintain your account in the Plan.

We may obtain this personal information (which may include your Social Security Number) in any of the following ways:

  • you provide it on the Plan enrollment form ("Application");
  • you provide it on other Plan forms;
  • you provide it on the Plan website;
  • you provide it during consultations; or
  • we obtain it to complete your requested transactions.

How Your Information Is Used

Unless you consent, TFI does not disclose your personal information to anyone for marketing purposes. TFI discloses your personal information only to those service providers, affiliated and non-affiliated, who need the information to respond to your inquiries and/or to service and maintain your account. In addition, TFI may be required to disclose your personal information to government agencies and other regulatory bodies (for example, for tax reporting purposes or to report suspicious transactions).

The affiliated and non-affiliated service providers who receive your personal information may use it to:

  • process your Plan transactions;
  • provide you with Plan materials;
  • mail you Plan account statements; and
  • enhance your Plan benefits.

These service providers provide services at TFI's direction and include fulfillment companies, printing and mailing facilities.

  • Under their agreements with TFI, these service providers are required to keep your personal information confidential and to use it only for providing the contractually required services.

Security of Your Information

TFI protects the personal information you provide against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, destruction, loss or misuse. Your personal information is protected by physical, electronic and procedural safeguards in accordance with federal and state standards. These safeguards include appropriate procedures for access and use of electronic data, provisions for the secure transmission of sensitive personal information on the Plan's website, and telephone system authentication procedures.

Changes in Our Privacy Policy

TFI periodically reviews this Privacy Policy and its related practices and procedures.  You will be notified of any material amendments to this Privacy Policy.

NOTICE ABOUT ONLINE PRIVACY

The personal information that you provide through the Plan website is handled in the same way as the personal information that you provide by any other means, as described above.  This section of the notice gives you additional information about the way in which personal information that is obtained online is handled.

Online Enrollment, Account Access, and Online Transactions

When you visit the Plan website, you can go to pages that are open to the general public or log onto protected pages to enroll in the Plan, access information about your account, or conduct certain transactions on your account. Once you have opened an account in the Plan, access to the secure pages of the Plan website is permitted only after you have supplied your Social Security Number or Taxpayer Identification Number and Password. This information serves to verify your identity.

When you enter personal data into the Plan website (including your Social Security Number or Taxpayer Identification Number and your password) to enroll or access your account online, you will log into secure pages where we use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol for protecting information.

To use this section of the Plan website you need a browser that supports encryption and dynamic Web page construction.

If you provide personal information to effect transactions on the Plan website, a record of the transactions that you have performed while on the site is retained by the Plan.

Other Personal Information Provided By You on the Plan Website

If you decide not to enroll online and you want to request Plan materials to be mailed to you, or you want to subscribe to the Plan e-mail newsletter, you can click on another section of the Plan website (i.e., the Request Enrollment Kit page of the Enroll Today section) to provide your name, mailing address and e-mail address, respectively. The personal information that you provide on that page of the site will be stored and used to market the Plan more effectively. Although that page of the Plan website does not use SSL encryption protocol, your information will be safeguarded in accordance with federal and state privacy laws and industry norms.

The Path2College 529 Plan Cares about Your Privacy

We use cookies on the Plan website to measure marketing results for the Plan. This process renders all visitors to the Plan website anonymous and will not personally identify you.

© Copyright 2009 TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc.
 

The Path2College 529 Plan is offered by the State of Georgia. TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc. (TFI) serves as Program Manager. TFI's affiliates, Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc. (TPIS) and TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, member FINRA, distribute the Path2College 529 Plan.

The tax information contained on the Path2College 529 Plan Web site is not intended to be used, and cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. It was written to support the promotion of the products and services addressed in the Web site. Taxpayers should seek advice based on their own particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor.

The investment approaches described are not recommendations and do not take into consideration personal goals or preferences. After evaluating information you consider important in making an investment choice, the ultimate decision is up to you. It is a good idea to revisit your investment strategy periodically as your goals, personal financial situation, and market conditions change.

Consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing in the Path2College 529 Plan. Please call toll-free 1-877-424-4377 for a Disclosure Booklet containing this information. Read it carefully.

Before investing in a 529 plan, you should consider whether the state you or your designated beneficiary reside in or have taxable income in has a 529 plan that offers favorable state income tax or other benefits that are only available if you invest in that state's 529 plan.

The State of Georgia, its agencies, TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc., Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America and its affiliates do not insure any account or guarantee its principal or investment return except for TIAA-CREF Life Insurance Company's guarantee to the Board of the Georgia Higher Education Savings Plan under the funding agreement for the Guaranteed Option. Account value will fluctuate based upon a number of factors, including general market conditions.

The Path2College 529 Web site is for informational purposes only, and does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any security that may be referenced on the site. Such offer or solicitation can be made only through the Disclosure Booklet

The Path2College 529 Web site contains links to other Web sites. Neither the Board of the Georgia Higher Education Savings Plan nor TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc. and its affiliates are responsible for the content of those other Web sites. The accuracy of information on those sites cannot be confirmed.

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© 2009 TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing Inc.