Former state school employee Jacobs paid in $40K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $640K in retirement

Former state school employee Mary Jacobs, who retired in June 2017, saved $40,135 toward a pension over 18 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Jacobs would collect as much as $640,275, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Jacobs received $13,458 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Jacobs will have already received $41,598 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.