Lake County Gazette

Former state school employee Dora Welker, who retired in March 2017, saved $170,210 toward a pension over 32 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Welker would collect as much as $3.72 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Lake County Gazette.

The projection assumes Welker received $78,231 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Welker will have already received $241,804 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.