Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Patricia Smith, who retired in January 2016, saved $188,819 toward a pension over 28 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Smith would collect as much as $3.67 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Smith received $77,206 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Smith will have already received $238,636 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.