Lake County Gazette

Former state school employee Laura Peterson, who retired in December 2018, saved $57,147 toward a pension over 13 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Peterson would collect as much as $897,194, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Lake County Gazette.

The projection assumes Peterson received $18,858 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Peterson will have already received $58,289 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.