Former state school employee Wisdom paid in $172K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $4.26M in retirement

Former state school employee Linda Wisdom, who retired in June 2016, saved $172,379 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, Wisdom would collect as much as $4.26 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Wisdom received $89,571 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Wisdom will have already received $181,829 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.