Former state school employee Pierce paid in $337K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $8.79M in retirement

Former state school employee Kathleen Pierce, who retired in July 2016, saved $336,555 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, Pierce would collect as much as $8.79 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Pierce received $184,858 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Pierce will have already received $375,262 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.