Prairie State Wire

Former state school employee Lawrence Metcalf, who retired in June 2018, saved $171,800 toward a pension over 27 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Metcalf would collect as much as $2.78 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Metcalf received $58,377 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Metcalf will have already received $180,437 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.