Former state school employee Costantini paid in $98K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $1.82M in retirement

Former state school employee Margaret Costantini, who retired in June 2017, saved $97,583 toward a pension over 25 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Costantini would collect as much as $1.82 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Costantini received $38,348 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Costantini will have already received $118,529 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.