Former state school employee Gustafson paid in $78K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $1.19M in retirement

Former state school employee Marilyn Gustafson, who retired in May 2018, saved $78,122 toward a pension over 15 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Gustafson would collect as much as $1.19 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Gustafson received $25,025 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Gustafson will have already received $104,695 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.