Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee John Kelsey, who retired in January 2017, saved $7,549 toward a pension over 18 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Kelsey would collect as much as $113,592, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Kelsey received $2,387 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Kelsey will have already received $9,988 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.