Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Beifen Chen, who retired in May 2016, saved $50,659 toward a pension over 16 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Chen would collect as much as $857,385, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Chen received $18,021 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Chen will have already received $55,702 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.