Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Cheryl Hayes, who retired in July 2018, saved $170,543 toward a pension over 15 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Hayes would collect as much as $1.72 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Hayes received $36,064 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 5 years of retirement, Hayes will have already received $191,468 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.