Former state school employee Nelson paid in $146K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $3.93M in retirement

Former state school employee Sarah Nelson, who retired in May 2018, saved $146,139 toward a pension over 34 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Nelson would collect as much as $3.93 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Nelson received $82,513 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Nelson will have already received $167,501 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.