Former state school employee Arnold paid in $108K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $2.58M in retirement

Former state school employee Karyn Arnold, who retired in May 2016, saved $107,744 toward a pension over 29 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Arnold would collect as much as $2.58 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Arnold received $54,153 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Arnold will have already received $109,931 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.