Over 30 years of retirement, Thornton would collect as much as $4.75 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes North Cook News.
The projection assumes Thornton received $99,939 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.
After 3 years of retirement, Thornton will have already received $308,901 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.