Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Frederick Hess, who retired in January 2018, saved $73,974 toward a pension over 29 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Hess would collect as much as $1.62 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Hess received $34,031 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Hess will have already received $105,187 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.