Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Ronald Lancaster, who retired in January 2016, saved $31,587 toward a pension over 16 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Lancaster would collect as much as $620,956, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Lancaster received $13,052 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Lancaster will have already received $40,343 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.