West Central Reporter

Former state school employee Sandra Carpenter, who retired in March 2018, saved $32,954 toward a pension over 11 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Carpenter would collect as much as $559,869, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes West Central Reporter.

The projection assumes Carpenter received $11,768 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Carpenter will have already received $36,374 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.