East Central Reporter

Former state school employee Melanie Fleenor, who retired in September 2017, saved $104,526 toward a pension over 23 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Fleenor would collect as much as $1.45 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes East Central Reporter.

The projection assumes Fleenor received $30,399 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Fleenor will have already received $127,178 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.