Former state school employee Catherine McCarthy, who retired in April 2016, saved $112,453 toward a pension over 33 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, McCarthy would collect as much as $3.03 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Will County Gazette.

The projection assumes McCarthy received $63,690 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, McCarthy will have already received $129,291 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.