Former state school employee David Wesolowski, who retired in July 2018, saved $136,459 toward a pension over 35 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Wesolowski would collect as much as $3.27 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Lake County Gazette.

The projection assumes Wesolowski received $68,649 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Wesolowski will have already received $139,357 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.