Former state school employee Starr paid in $125K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $3.41M in retirement

Former state school employee Judith Starr, who retired in March 2017, saved $125,485 toward a pension over 30 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Starr would collect as much as $3.41 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Starr received $71,663 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Starr will have already received $145,476 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.