Former state school employee Cates paid in $44K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $574K in retirement

Former state school employee Therese Cates, who retired in October 2018, saved $44,335 toward a pension over 9 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Cates would collect as much as $574,307, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Cates received $12,071 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Cates will have already received $50,500 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.