Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Mary O'Brien, who retired in December 2017, saved $22,061 toward a pension over 17 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, O'Brien would collect as much as $563,528, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes O'Brien received $11,844 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, O'Brien will have already received $24,043 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.