Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Patricia Chism Lawson, who retired in February 2019, saved $82,442 toward a pension over 26 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Chism Lawson would collect as much as $1.48 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Chism Lawson received $31,140 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Chism Lawson will have already received $96,250 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.