South Central Reporter

Former state school employee John Thomas, who retired in November 2016, saved $96,479 toward a pension over 28 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 $1.8 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes South Central Reporter.

The projection assumes Thomas received $37,852 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Thomas will have already received $116,998 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.