Lake County Gazette

Former state school employee Linda McCarthy, who retired in June 2016, saved $119,340 toward a pension over 27 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, McCarthy would collect as much as $2.54 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Lake County Gazette.

The projection assumes McCarthy received $53,371 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, McCarthy will have already received $164,964 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.