Former state school employee Cushion paid in $184K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $3.24M in retirement

Former state school employee Michael Cushion, who retired in July 2017, saved $184,441 toward a pension over 18 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Cushion would collect as much as $3.24 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Cushion received $68,083 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Cushion will have already received $210,437 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.