Former state school employee Peterson paid in $212K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $4.59M in retirement

Former state school employee Jeffrey Peterson, who retired in May 2016, saved $211,744 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, Peterson would collect as much as $4.59 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Peterson received $96,488 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Peterson will have already received $298,235 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.