Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Richard Weatherspoon, who retired in January 2018, saved $71,584 toward a pension over 28 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Weatherspoon would collect as much as $1.49 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Weatherspoon received $31,377 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Weatherspoon will have already received $96,983 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.