McHenry Times

Former state school employee Elaine O'Donnell, who retired in June 2018, saved $92,938 toward a pension over 21 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, O'Donnell would collect as much as $1.52 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes McHenry Times.

The projection assumes O'Donnell received $31,929 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, O'Donnell will have already received $98,690 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.