DeKalb Times

Former state school employee Ellen O'Donnell, who retired in May 2017, saved $124,450 toward a pension over 32 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, O'Donnell would collect as much as $2.2 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DeKalb Times.

The projection assumes O'Donnell received $46,235 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, O'Donnell will have already received $142,908 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.