Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Susan John, who retired in October 2016, saved $116,322 toward a pension over 21 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, John would collect as much as $1.88 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes John received $39,466 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, John will have already received $121,986 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.