Chicago City Wire

Former substitute teacher Estella Cohen, who retired in May 2018, saved $25,223 toward a pension over 12 years working for public schools, Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Cohen would collect as much as $326,230, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Cohen received $6,857 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Cohen will have already received $28,688 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.