Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Shirley Nelson, who retired in January 2017, saved $55,301 toward a pension over 22 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Nelson would collect as much as $1.03 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Nelson received $21,578 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Nelson will have already received $66,695 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.