Lake County Gazette

Former state school employee Laurel Lerner, who retired in June 2018, saved $78,232 toward a pension over 20 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Lerner would collect as much as $1.31 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Lake County Gazette.

The projection assumes Lerner received $27,587 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Lerner will have already received $85,269 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.