Prairie State Wire

Former state school employee Debra Heckenkamp, who retired in March 2018, saved $109,199 toward a pension over 15 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Heckenkamp would collect as much as $1.45 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Heckenkamp received $30,423 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Heckenkamp will have already received $127,279 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.