Prairie State Wire

Former state school employee Sandra Andrighetti, who retired in June 2018, saved $17,576 toward a pension over 5 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Andrighetti would collect as much as $576,870, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Andrighetti received $12,125 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Andrighetti will have already received $24,614 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.