Former state school employee Gunther paid in $160K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $4.32M in retirement

Former state school employee Beth Gunther, who retired in June 2016, saved $159,883 toward a pension over 35 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Gunther would collect as much as $4.32 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Gunther received $90,823 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Gunther will have already received $184,371 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.