Former state school employee Kathleen Schmidt, who retired in October 2016, saved $57,363 toward a pension over 15 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Schmidt would collect as much as $1 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Schmidt received $21,042 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Schmidt will have already received $65,038 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.