Prairie State Wire

Former state school employee Julie Flentje, who retired in June 2017, saved $92,517 toward a pension over 20 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Flentje would collect as much as $1.49 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Flentje received $31,240 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Flentje will have already received $96,559 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.