Prairie State Wire

Former state school employee Thomas Gray, who retired in March 2016, saved $222,064 toward a pension over 24 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Gray would collect as much as $4.35 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Gray received $91,509 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Gray will have already received $282,845 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.