Former state school employee Ruettiger paid in $222K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $4.55M in retirement

Former state school employee John Ruettiger, who retired in May 2018, saved $221,636 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, Ruettiger would collect as much as $4.55 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Ruettiger received $95,608 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Ruettiger will have already received $295,514 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.