Former state school employee Donovan paid in $126K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $2.47M in retirement

Former state school employee Pamela Donovan, who retired in June 2016, saved $125,713 toward a pension over 26 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Donovan would collect as much as $2.47 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Donovan received $52,005 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Donovan will have already received $160,742 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.