More than 129,000 Illinois public pensioners will see expected payouts of $1 million or more during retirement.
Illinois pensions 101: Paltry contributions yield million-dollar payouts
Across all five state retirement systems, typical career workers pay for about 5% of the cost of their pension benefits. They receive an average of $1.7 million to $3.6 million.
Senate President John Cullerton set to collect $2M pension
Due to a pension sweetener available only to veteran Illinois lawmakers, Cullerton’s annual pension will soon be more than he ever made from his Statehouse salary.
Illinois pension buyout program delivers just 3% of projected savings
A plan that allowed some pension enrollees to cash in early on their earned retirement benefits in exchange for curbing future benefits has so far generated only 3% of its expected savings.
Illinois Supreme Court: Union lobbyist can double pension for one day of teaching
Illinois’ high court ruled a former union employee who worked a single day in the classroom is eligible to receive a decade’s worth of teacher pension benefits.
Illinois state and local governments spend most in nation on pensions
According to recent data, Illinois spends nearly double the national average on pensions, measured as a percentage of all state and local government spending.
Southwestern Illinois home to 340 pension millionaires
A former Edwardsville university administrator and a retired judge each have collected more than $3 million in pension payments. Too little paid in with too much taken out is the heart of Illinois’ pension crisis.
More than 19,000 Illinois government retirees receive pensions over $100K
The average six-figure retiree contributed just over $160,000 toward their own pension over the course of their career.
Illinois’ pension funds invested in risky, alternative investments
Nearly 38 percent of Illinois Teachers Retirement System assets are in so-called alternative investments.
Each Illinois household on the hook for $56K in government-worker retirement debt
In 2010, the unfunded debt related to pensions and retiree health care costs for local and state government workers across Illinois was $203 billion, the equivalent of more than $43,000 per household. In just six years, the total debt Illinois households are on the hook for has jumped to $56,000, or 31 percent. That’s a $13,000 increase for each household. Total unfunded debt for state and local governments in Illinois now totals $267 billion.