Over 30 years of retirement, Payne would collect as much as $1.29 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Sangamon Sun.
The projection assumes Payne received $27,132 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.
After 2 years of retirement, Payne will have already received $55,078 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.