Former state school employee Thompson paid in $15K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $225K in retirement

Former state school employee Dorothy Thompson, who retired in May 2018, saved $15,286 toward a pension over 10 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Thompson would collect as much as $225,484, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Thompson received $4,739 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Thompson will have already received $19,825 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.