Former state school employee Bridgman paid in $102K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $1.91M in retirement

Former state school employee Denise Bridgman, who retired in May 2016, saved $102,277 toward a pension over 19 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Bridgman would collect as much as $1.91 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Bridgman received $40,185 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Bridgman will have already received $124,209 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.