South Central Reporter

Former state school employee Terry Heern, who retired in January 2017, saved $120,140 toward a pension over 26 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Heern would collect as much as $1.78 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes South Central Reporter.

The projection assumes Heern received $37,510 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Heern will have already received $156,927 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.