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Sangamon Sun

Monday, April 28, 2025

Former state school employee Vander Leest paid in $129K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $2.65M in retirement

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Former state school employee Krista Vander Leest, who retired in May 2018, saved $129,091 toward a pension over 27 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Vander Leest would collect as much as $2.65 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Sangamon Sun.

The projection assumes Vander Leest received $55,650 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Vander Leest will have already received $172,010 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.

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