Prairie State Wire

Former state school employee Mary Klaas, who retired in August 2016, saved $111,871 toward a pension over 23 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Klaas would collect as much as $2.18 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Klaas received $45,898 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Klaas will have already received $141,866 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.