Lake County Gazette

Former state school employee Joel Schmidt, who retired in June 2016, saved $7,894 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, Schmidt would collect as much as $143,576, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Lake County Gazette.

The projection assumes Schmidt received $3,017 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Schmidt will have already received $9,326 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.