Former state school employee Cepeda paid in $183K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $3.81M in retirement

Former state school employee Patricia Cepeda, who retired in July 2018, saved $182,729 toward a pension over 35 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Cepeda would collect as much as $3.81 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Cepeda received $80,124 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Cepeda will have already received $247,656 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.