Metro East Sun

Former state school employee Carol Wilkerson, who retired in February 2016, saved $35,545 toward a pension over 8 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Wilkerson would collect as much as $496,607, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Metro East Sun.

The projection assumes Wilkerson received $10,438 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Wilkerson will have already received $43,669 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.