Former state school employee Jeanne Schatz, who retired in February 2017, saved $68,343 toward a pension over 12 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Schatz would collect as much as $898,981, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Schatz received $18,895 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Schatz will have already received $79,050 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.