Former state school employee Fern Funk, who retired in June 2016, saved $176,686 toward a pension over 26 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Funk would collect as much as $3.35 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes North Cook News.

The projection assumes Funk received $70,428 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Funk will have already received $217,686 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the teachers' pension fund.