Former state school employee Smith paid in $11K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $206K in retirement

Former state school employee Sandra Smith, who retired in May 2017, saved $11,459 toward a pension over 8 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Smith would collect as much as $206,033, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Smith received $4,330 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Smith will have already received $13,384 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.