Prairie State Wire

Former state school employee Reginald Patterson, who retired in August 2018, saved $25,540 toward a pension over 5 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Patterson would collect as much as $310,777, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Patterson received $6,532 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Patterson will have already received $27,328 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.