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Chicago City Wire

Thursday, July 31, 2025

Former state university employee Cardenas paid in $13K to pension fund, could collect $352K in retirement

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Former state university employee Patricia Cardenas, who retired in March 2016, saved $12,833 toward a pension over 15 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Cardenas would collect as much as $351,825, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Cardenas received $7,395 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Cardenas will have already received $15,012 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.

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