East Central Reporter

Former state school employee Kathy Thomas, who retired in August 2017, saved $43,787 toward a pension over 16 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 $828,074, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes East Central Reporter.

The projection assumes Thomas received $17,405 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Thomas will have already received $53,797 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.