Former state school employee Sellers paid in $23K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $1.03M in retirement

Former state school employee Julia Sellers, who retired in August 2016, saved $22,603 toward a pension over 13 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Sellers would collect as much as $1.03 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Sellers received $21,687 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Sellers will have already received $44,025 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.