Peoria Standard

Former state school employee Lora Nelson, who retired in May 2018, saved $140,477 toward a pension over 35 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Nelson would collect as much as $3 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Peoria Standard.

The projection assumes Nelson received $62,973 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Nelson will have already received $194,643 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.