Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Deborah Coggins, who retired in January 2018, saved $126,837 toward a pension over 20 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Coggins would collect as much as $2.25 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Coggins received $47,266 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Coggins will have already received $146,095 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.