Metro East Sun

Former state school employee Paul Santoro, who retired in September 2016, saved $134,609 toward a pension over 27 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Santoro would collect as much as $2.29 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Metro East Sun.

The projection assumes Santoro received $48,054 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Santoro will have already received $148,531 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.