Over 30 years of retirement, Gardner would collect as much as $5.6 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.
The projection assumes Gardner received $117,641 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.
After 3 years of retirement, Gardner will have already received $363,616 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.