Over 30 years of retirement, Gerdes would collect as much as $1.07 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Carbondale Reporter.
The projection assumes Gerdes received $22,546 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.
After 3 years of retirement, Gerdes will have already received $69,687 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.