Former state school employee Castleberry paid in $8K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $153K in retirement

Former state school employee Linda Castleberry, who retired in April 2016, saved $8,447 toward a pension over 5 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Castleberry would collect as much as $153,476, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Castleberry received $3,225 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Castleberry will have already received $9,969 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.