Prairie State Wire

Former state school employee Jessica Gerdes, who retired in October 2018, saved $57,641 toward a pension over 13 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Gerdes would collect as much as $1.07 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Gerdes received $22,546 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Gerdes will have already received $69,687 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.