Former state school employee Carey paid in $105K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $1.45M in retirement

Former state school employee Lora Carey, who retired in June 2017, saved $105,250 toward a pension over 17 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Carey would collect as much as $1.45 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Carey received $30,431 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Carey will have already received $127,312 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.