Former state school employee Cantlin paid in $272K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $6.16M in retirement

Former state school employee Thomas Cantlin, who retired in June 2018, saved $271,581 toward a pension over 36 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Cantlin would collect as much as $6.16 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Cantlin received $129,377 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Cantlin will have already received $399,891 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.