Former state school employee Maureen Collins, who retired in March 2016, saved $55,790 toward a pension over 10 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Collins would collect as much as $771,321, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Collins received $16,212 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Collins will have already received $67,824 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.