Prairie State Wire

Former state school employee Karen Taylor, who retired in November 2016, saved $42,094 toward a pension over 10 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Taylor would collect as much as $555,336, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Taylor received $11,672 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Taylor will have already received $48,831 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.