# EDGAR Filing Document

**Accession Number:** 0001068204
**File Stem:** 0000930413-23-001066
**Filing Date:** 2023-3
**Character Count:** 26409
**Document Hash:** 20ad3cd70535ea8ea8a34bad31201bb1
**Contains OCR:** False
**Source Format:** 

## Filing Content

## Filing Summary
**0000930413-23-001066.hdr.sgml**: 20230321

**ACCESSION NUMBER**: 0000930413-23-001066

**CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE**: 497K

**PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT**: 7

**FILED AS OF DATE**: 20230321

**DATE AS OF CHANGE**: 20230321

**EFFECTIVENESS DATE**: 20230321

**FILER**: 

**COMPANY DATA:**
- **COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:** TIAA-CREF LIFE FUNDS
- **CENTRAL INDEX KEY:** 0001068204
- **IRS NUMBER:** 000000000
- **FISCAL YEAR END:** 1231

**FILING VALUES:**
- **FORM TYPE:** 497K
- **SEC ACT:** 1933 Act
- **SEC FILE NUMBER:** 333-61759
- **FILM NUMBER:** 23747915

**BUSINESS ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** 730 THIRD AVE
- **CITY:** NEW YORK
- **STATE:** NY
- **ZIP:** 10017
- **BUSINESS PHONE:** 212-490-9000

**MAIL ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** 730 THIRD AVE
- **CITY:** NEW YORK
- **STATE:** NY
- **ZIP:** 10017

**FORMER COMPANY:**
- **FORMER CONFORMED NAME:** TIAA CREF LIFE FUND
- **DATE OF NAME CHANGE:** 19980813

## Series and Classes Contracts Data

### Core Bond Fund (Series ID: S000005097)

| Class ID   | Class Name     | Ticker Symbol   |
|:---|:---|:---|
| C000013884 | Core Bond Fund | TLBDX           |

---

| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
| ![](img_1b59c225285d4.jpg) | **TIAA-CREF <br>Life Funds** | **Summary Prospectus** |

---

## Core Bond Fund
**MAY 1, 2022, AS AMENDED AND RESTATED MARCH 21, 2023**

Ticker: TLBDX

*Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund's prospectus, reports to shareholders and other information about the Fund online at www.tiaa.org/tclf_pro. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800-223-1200 or by sending an e-mail request to disclosure@tiaa.org. The Fund's prospectus and Statement of Additional Information ("SAI"), each dated May 1, 2022, as subsequently supplemented, and the sections of the Fund's shareholder report dated December 31, 2021 from "Portfolio of Investments" through "Notes to Financial Statements," are incorporated into this Summary Prospectus by reference and may be obtained free of charge at the website, phone number or e-mail address noted above.* 

#### Investment objective
The Fund seeks total return, primarily through current income.

#### Fees and expenses
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. The expenses shown do not reflect any separate account fees or expenses deducted under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies using the Fund as an underlying investment option.

**SHAREHOLDER FEES** (fees paid directly from your investment)

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price) | 0% |
| Maximum deferred sales charge | 0% |
| Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions | 0% |
| Redemption fee | 0% |
| Exchange fee | 0% |

---

TIAA-CREF Life Funds ■ Core Bond Fund ■ **Summary Prospectus** &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1

------

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

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| Management fees | 0.30%  |
| Other expenses | 0.12%  |
| Total annual Fund operating expenses | 0.42%  |
| Waivers and expense reimbursements<sup>1</sup> | (0.07)%  |
| Total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement | 0.35%  |

---

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| 1 | Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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 0.35% of average daily net assets for shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least April 30, 2023, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees. |

---

#### Example
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. The example does not reflect the fees and expenses of any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy and the costs in the example would be higher if it did. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| 1 year | $36 |
| 3 years | $128 |
| 5 years | $228 |
| 10 years | $523 |

---

#### Portfolio turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. 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 December 31, 2021, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 258% of the average value of its portfolio.

#### Principal investment strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds. For these purposes, bonds include fixed-income securities of all types. The Fund primarily invests in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-

2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; **Summary Prospectus** ■ TIAA-CREF Life Funds ■ Core Bond Fund

------

income securities, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds, mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities, convertible and preferred securities, senior loans and loan participations and assignments and notes. The Fund may also invest in other fixed-income securities, including those of non-investment-grade quality (usually called "high-yield" or "junk bonds"). Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature. The Fund does not rely exclusively on rating agencies when making investment decisions. Instead, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC ("Advisors"), performs its own credit analysis, paying particular attention to economic trends and other market events. Individual securities or sectors may be overweighted or underweighted relative to the Fund's benchmark index, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, when Advisors believes that such overweight or underweight may cause the Fund to outperform the index. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term "assets" means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration. As of February 28, 2022, the duration of the Fund's benchmark index, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, was 6.78 years.

The Fund's investments in mortgage-backed securities can include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations ("CMOs"). Mortgage pass-through securities are created when mortgages are pooled together and interests in the pool are sold to investors. The cash flow from the underlying mortgages is "passed through" to investors in periodic principal and interest payments. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages from which payments of principal and interest are dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on the CMO.

The Fund may use an investment strategy called "mortgage rolls" (also referred to as "dollar rolls"), in which the Fund sells securities for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracts with a counterparty to repurchase similar (same type, coupon and maturity) but not identical securities on a specified future date. The Fund loses the right to receive principal and interest paid on the securities sold. However, the Fund would benefit to the extent of any price received for the securities sold and the lower forward price for the future purchase (often referred to as the "drop") plus the interest earned on the short-term investment awaiting the settlement date of the forward purchase. If such benefits exceed the income and gain or loss due to mortgage repayments that would have been realized on the securities sold as part of the mortgage roll, the use of this technique will enhance the investment performance of the Fund compared with what such performance would have been without the use of mortgage rolls. Realizing benefits from the use of mortgage rolls depends upon the ability of Advisors to correctly predict mortgage prepayments and interest rates.

TIAA-CREF Life Funds ■ Core Bond Fund ■ **Summary Prospectus** &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3

------

The Fund may also engage in relative value trading, a strategy in which the Fund reallocates assets across different sectors and maturities. Relative value trading is designed to enhance the Fund's returns but increases the Fund's portfolio turnover rate.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund's investment strategies. The Fund may also invest in foreign securities, including emerging markets fixed-income securities and non-dollar-denominated instruments. Under most circumstances, the Fund's investments in fixed-income securities of foreign issuers constitute less than 25% of the Fund's assets.

#### Principal investment risks
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:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Interest Rate Risk** (a type of **Market Risk**)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund's exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. However, interest rates may increase in the future. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Prepayment Risk**—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

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

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Issuer Risk** (often called **Financial 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.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Credit Risk** (a type of **Issuer Risk**)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing, or may be perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services or otherwise) as not able or willing, to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; **Summary Prospectus** ■ TIAA-CREF Life Funds ■ Core Bond Fund

------

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **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 the Fund's debt securities.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Income Volatility Risk**—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk** (types of **Market Risk**)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk**—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments as well as armed conflicts. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund's ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers. Foreign investments may also be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign government regulation, less public information, less stringent investor protections, and less stringent accounting, corporate governance, financial reporting and disclosure standards.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Active Management Risk**—The risk that Advisors' strategy, investment selection or trading execution may cause the Fund to underperform relative to the benchmark index or mutual funds with similar investment objectives.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **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 the Fund's income.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Mortgage Roll Risk**—The risk that Advisors will not correctly predict mortgage prepayments and interest rates, which will diminish the Fund's performance.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Downgrade Risk**—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer's business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk**—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called "high-yield" or "junk bonds," are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

TIAA-CREF Life Funds ■ Core Bond Fund ■ **Summary Prospectus** &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5

------

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Illiquid Investments Risk**—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Senior Loan Risk**—Many senior loans present credit risk comparable to high-yield securities. The liquidation of the collateral backing a senior loan may not satisfy the borrower's obligation to the Fund in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal. Senior loans also expose the Fund to call risk and illiquid investments risk. The secondary market for senior loans can be limited. Trades can be infrequent and the values for senior loans may experience volatility. In some cases, negotiations for the sale or settlement of senior loans may require weeks to complete, which may impair the Fund's ability to raise cash to satisfy redemptions, pay dividends, pay expenses or to take advantage of other investment opportunities in a timely manner. If an issuer of a senior loan prepays or redeems the loan prior to maturity, the Fund will have to reinvest the proceeds in other senior loans or instruments that may pay lower interest rates.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Emerging Markets Risk**—The risk of foreign investment often increases in countries with emerging markets or otherwise economically tied to emerging market countries. For example, these countries may have more unstable governments than developed countries, and their economies may be based on only a few industries. Emerging market countries may also have less stringent regulation of accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, which would affect the Fund's ability to evaluate potential portfolio companies. As a result, there could be less information available about issuers in emerging market countries, which could negatively affect Advisors' ability to evaluate local companies or their potential impact on the Fund's performance. Because their financial markets may be very small, share prices of financial instruments in emerging market countries may be volatile and difficult to determine. Financial instruments of issuers in these countries may have lower overall liquidity than those of issuers in more developed countries. In addition, foreign investors such as the Fund are subject to a variety of special restrictions in many emerging market countries. Moreover, legal remedies for investors in emerging markets may be more limited, and U.S. authorities may have less ability to bring actions against bad actors in emerging market countries.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **U.S. Government Securities Risk**—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund's ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund's performance.

6&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; **Summary Prospectus** ■ TIAA-CREF Life Funds ■ Core Bond Fund

------

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk**—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund's ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Portfolio Turnover Risk**—Depending on market and other conditions, the Fund may experience high portfolio turnover, which may result in greater transactional expenses, such as brokerage commissions, bid-ask spreads, or dealer mark-ups, and capital gains (which could increase taxes and, consequently, reduce returns).

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;· **Derivatives Risk**—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

*Please see the non-summary portion of the Prospectus for more detailed information about the risks described above.*

#### Past performance
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 shares of the Fund during the preceding ten-year period. Below the bar chart are the best and worst returns for a calendar quarter during the same period. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund's average annual total returns over the one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods (where applicable) ended December 31, 2021, and how those returns compare to those of the Fund's benchmark index. Returns do not reflect fees and expenses of any variable annuity or variable life insurance contract and would be lower if they did.

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

*For current performance information of the Fund, including performance to the most recent month-end, please visit www.tiaa.org.*

TIAA-CREF Life Funds ■ Core Bond Fund ■ **Summary Prospectus** &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;7

------

#### ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (%)

#### Core Bond Fund
![PerformanceBarChartData(2012:6.91, 2013:-1.54, 2014:5.47, 2015:0.57, 2016:4.23, 2017:4.54, 2018:-0.79, 2019:9.48, 2020:7.86, 2021:-0.99)](img_4b86567ef52c4.jpg)

Best quarter: 5.64%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. Worst quarter: -2.79%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.

#### AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS
For the Periods Ended December 31, 2021

---

| | | | | |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---|
|  | **Inception date** | **One year** | **Five years** | **Ten years** |
| **Core Bond Fund** | 7/8/2003 | –0.99% | 3.93% | 3.50% |
| Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index |  |  |  |  |
| (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes) |  | –1.54% | 3.57% | 2.90% |
| *Current performance of the Fund's shares may be higher or lower than that shown above.* | *Current performance of the Fund's shares may be higher or lower than that shown above.* | *Current performance of the Fund's shares may be higher or lower than that shown above.* | *Current performance of the Fund's shares may be higher or lower than that shown above.* | *Current performance of the Fund's shares may be higher or lower than that shown above.* |

---

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| After-tax returns have not been shown because they are not relevant since Fund shares currently are held only through insurance company separate accounts. For the Fund's most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252. | After-tax returns have not been shown because they are not relevant since Fund shares currently are held only through insurance company separate accounts. For the Fund's most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252. |
| A | A |

---

#### Portfolio management
**Investment Adviser.** The Fund's investment adviser is Teachers Advisors, LLC.

**Portfolio Managers.** The following persons are primarily responsible for the management of the Fund on a day-to-day basis:

---

| | | | |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|
| **Name:** | **Joseph Higgins, CFA** | **Jason O'Brien, CFA** | **Peter Agrimson, CFA** |
| Title: | Managing Director | Managing Director | Managing Director |
| Experience on Fund: | since 2011 | since 2020 | since 2023 |

---

#### Purchase and sale of Fund shares
Please contact the insurance company that issued your variable annuity or life insurance contract for more information on the purchase and sale of Fund shares.

8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; **Summary Prospectus** ■ TIAA-CREF Life Funds ■ Core Bond Fund

------

#### Tax information
Because the only shareholders of the Fund are the insurance companies offering the contracts, no discussion is included here about the federal income tax consequences at the shareholder level. The federal income tax consequences for purchases of a variable annuity or life insurance contract are described in the prospectus for such contracts.

#### Payments to insurance companies and broker-dealers and other financial intermediary compensation
The Fund is only available as an underlying investment for the contracts. The Fund and its distributor (and their related companies) may make payments to the sponsoring insurance company (or its affiliates) and to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries for distribution and/or other services. These payments may be a factor that the insurance company considers in including the Fund as an underlying investment option in the variable contract. Payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary to recommend a variable product and the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial adviser or visit the website of the insurance company or the financial intermediary for more information. The disclosure document for your variable contract may contain additional information about these payments.

TIAA-CREF Life Funds ■ Core Bond Fund ■ **Summary Prospectus** &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;9

------

[This page intentionally left blank.]

------

[This page intentionally left blank.]

------

![](img_233f7a9bdaaf4.jpg)

![](img_3e46d110db6c4.jpg)

---

| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
| ![](img_360c4876cf074.jpg) | Printed on paper containing recycled fiber | &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A12161 (3/23) |

---

------

![](img_df70a1b37f0d4.jpg)<br>

<br>A12161 (3/23)

------