Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Elizabeth MacZuga, who retired in January 2017, saved $61,694 toward a pension over 25 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, MacZuga would collect as much as $1.35 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes MacZuga received $28,359 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, MacZuga will have already received $87,655 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.