Former state school employee Messina paid in $184K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $4.26M in retirement

Former state school employee Donna Messina, who retired in June 2016, saved $183,786 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, Messina would collect as much as $4.26 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Messina received $89,571 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Messina will have already received $276,855 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.