Former state school employee Lackos paid in $184K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $2.92M in retirement

Former state school employee Cathy Lackos, who retired in May 2016, saved $184,443 toward a pension over 33 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Lackos would collect as much as $2.92 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Lackos received $61,443 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Lackos will have already received $189,914 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.