Joe Paterno Pension: Family Will Be Paid $13.4 Million

Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno earned a state pension of $13.4 million after coaching for 61 years at the school.

Paterno's widow, Sue, will receive a $10.1 million payment by the end of May and then receive the remainder of the money over the next two years, according to Paterno family spoksman, Dan McGinn. The $13.4 million figure was put together through the standard formula for those in Pennsylvania's State Employees' Retirement System.

Paterno died in January at age 85 after a long and storied career at Penn State ended on a sour note. He was fired during the season after the school's trustees determined that he did not do enough to prevent former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky from sexually abusing young boys on the school's campus.

Paterno indicated plans to retire at the end of the season, but the trustees wouldn't allow him to go out the way he wanted. He died three months later from lung cancer.

Paterno's family also received a $5.5 million payment from Penn State for his unexpired head coaching contract.

The family plans to donate $1.5 million of the pension to State College and Penn State charities, including $500,000 to the Catholic center, which is independent of the university. That will bring the family's donation total to $9 million to various Penn State causes.