Prairie State Wire

Former state school employee Julie Burd, who retired in June 2018, saved $169,939 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, Burd would collect as much as $3.38 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Burd received $71,019 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Burd will have already received $219,514 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.