Prairie State Wire

Former state school employee Paul Williams, who retired in November 2016, saved $143,039 toward a pension over 24 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Williams would collect as much as $2.28 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Williams received $47,842 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Williams will have already received $147,874 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.