Former state school employee Willson paid in $208K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $5.36M in retirement

Former state school employee Barbara Willson, who retired in May 2018, saved $207,873 toward a pension over 35 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Willson would collect as much as $5.36 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Willson received $112,716 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Willson will have already received $228,813 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.