Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Steven Mitchell, who retired in December 2018, saved $61,403 toward a pension over 16 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Mitchell would collect as much as $1.58 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Mitchell received $33,240 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Mitchell will have already received $67,477 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.