Dupage Policy Journal

Former state school employee Sheila O'Connell, who retired in March 2017, saved $150,706 toward a pension over 23 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, O'Connell would collect as much as $1.58 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes O'Connell received $33,241 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 5 years of retirement, O'Connell will have already received $176,480 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.