Former state school employee Hays paid in $209K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $4.66M in retirement

Former state school employee Laura Hays, who retired in June 2018, saved $209,352 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, Hays would collect as much as $4.66 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Hays received $97,898 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Hays will have already received $302,593 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.