Former state school employee Wirtz paid in $272K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $6.54M in retirement

Former state school employee Jeffrey Wirtz, who retired in May 2016, saved $272,191 toward a pension over 36 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Wirtz would collect as much as $6.54 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Wirtz received $137,520 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Wirtz will have already received $279,166 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.