Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Matthew Cowan, who retired in March 2016, saved $19,501 toward a pension over 11 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Cowan would collect as much as $746,024, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Cowan received $15,680 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Cowan will have already received $31,830 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.