Former state school employee Brand paid in $51K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $697K in retirement

Former state school employee Karen Brand, who retired in May 2018, saved $51,024 toward a pension over 13 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Brand would collect as much as $697,331, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Brand received $14,657 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Brand will have already received $61,321 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.