Prairie State Wire

Former state school employee Cheryl Bradley, who retired in March 2016, saved $170,665 toward a pension over 36 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Bradley would collect as much as $3.63 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Bradley received $76,400 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Bradley will have already received $236,145 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.