Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Sonya Booth, who retired in January 2016, saved $73,024 toward a pension over 22 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Booth would collect as much as $2.88 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Booth received $60,441 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Booth will have already received $122,695 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.