Former state school employee Shirley paid in $20K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $394K in retirement

Former state school employee Nancy Shirley, who retired in June 2016, saved $19,576 toward a pension over 11 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Shirley would collect as much as $393,519, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Shirley received $8,271 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Shirley will have already received $25,565 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.