Prairie State Wire

Former state school employee Julie Evans, who retired in December 2016, saved $85,722 toward a pension over 21 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Evans would collect as much as $1.63 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Evans received $34,218 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Evans will have already received $105,765 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.