Former state school employee Cotromanes paid in $8K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $138K in retirement

Former state school employee John Cotromanes, who retired in May 2016, saved $8,416 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, Cotromanes would collect as much as $138,193, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Cotromanes received $2,904 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Cotromanes will have already received $8,976 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.