Former state school employee Schade paid in $197K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $4.65M in retirement

Former state school employee Audrey Schade, who retired in May 2016, saved $197,197 toward a pension over 42 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Schade would collect as much as $4.65 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Schade received $97,811 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Schade will have already received $198,556 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.