Former state school employee Sims paid in $95K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $1.65M in retirement

Former state school employee Barbara Sims, who retired in December 2017, saved $94,510 toward a pension over 18 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Sims would collect as much as $1.65 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Sims received $34,607 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Sims will have already received $106,966 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.