Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee William Smith, who retired in March 2019, saved $68,648 toward a pension over 29 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Smith would collect as much as $1.29 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Smith received $27,072 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Smith will have already received $83,677 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.