Former state school employee Joette Conger, who retired in May 2018, saved $231,563 toward a pension over 36 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Conger would collect as much as $4.93 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Conger received $103,634 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Conger will have already received $320,322 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.