Peoria Standard

Former state school employee Melody McPherson, who retired in May 2018, saved $123,665 toward a pension over 32 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, McPherson would collect as much as $2.3 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Peoria Standard.

The projection assumes McPherson received $48,446 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, McPherson will have already received $149,741 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.