Former state school employee Gaiownik paid in $124K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $1.64M in retirement

Former state school employee Simone Gaiownik, who retired in May 2016, saved $124,218 toward a pension over 21 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Gaiownik would collect as much as $1.64 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Gaiownik received $34,491 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Gaiownik will have already received $144,299 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.