Lake County Gazette

Former state school employee Karen Kunesh, who retired in March 2018, saved $7,098 toward a pension over 5 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Kunesh would collect as much as $391,720, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Lake County Gazette.

The projection assumes Kunesh received $8,233 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 1 years of retirement, Kunesh will have already received $8,233 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.