Former state school employee Karen Luensman, who retired in October 2017, saved $16,151 toward a pension over 11 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Luensman would collect as much as $758,099, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Lake County Gazette.

The projection assumes Luensman received $15,934 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Luensman will have already received $32,346 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.