Former state school employee Lockhart paid in $37K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $1.09M in retirement

Former state school employee Patricia Lockhart, who retired in January 2016, saved $36,815 toward a pension over 11 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Lockhart would collect as much as $1.09 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Lockhart received $22,941 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Lockhart will have already received $46,570 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.