City of Chicago
Surviving spouses: 1,128 spouses
Exact amount: $29,796,134.66
Calendar year 2026
Our estimateProxy: this group draws $39,109,604 a year in benefits, 8.54% of the $457,739,817 of benefit dollars (annual benefits in payment at 12/31/2025 plus 2025 refunds of contributions). Average benefit $34,672 a year per person. Exhibit D.2 (p.42) total $44,404,654 for 1,191 spouses, minus the 63 widows' compensation annuities shown in Exhibit E (p.43). The City's payment is not the same as the benefits paid. The City sends one payment set by law to the fund, and the fund pays its retirees from that money plus member contributions and investment earnings. This split shares the payment out by each group's share of yearly benefit dollars, so it is our estimate, not a City figure.
The City's payment goes to the fund as one lump sum, and thousands of retirees in this group share it, so each person's share is far under $1M and no single person's benefit is bought by one payment.
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