Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Alan Nicholls, who retired in January 2019, saved $151,032 toward a pension over 20 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Nicholls would collect as much as $2.22 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Nicholls received $46,716 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Nicholls will have already received $195,442 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.