West Central Reporter

Former state school employee Janet Thomas, who retired in July 2016, saved $18,342 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, Thomas would collect as much as $865,040, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes West Central Reporter.

The projection assumes Thomas received $18,182 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Thomas will have already received $36,909 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.